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FROM   CARPATHIAN   TO   PINDUS 


Frontispiece. 


Cld  Couple. 


FROM   CARPATHIAN 
TO   PINDUS 

PICTURES    OF   ROUMANIAN 
COUNTRY    LIFE 


BY 

TEREZA    STRATILESCO 


Wlfll    TWO    MAPS    AND    SIXTY-THREE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


"Jaranii,    partea    cea    mai    numeroasa    si    inai    iiiteresant^    a 
poporului  roman." — Al.  Lahovary  (Discurs  paiiainentar) 

("The    peasants,   the    most    numerous    and    most    interesting 
part  of  the  Roumanian  people ") 


BOSTON  : 

JOHN    W.    LUCE    &   COMPANY 

1907 


PRFS£?^VKT10N 
COPVAODED 

RETAIKEO 


<R 


Hmm  S09M 


{All  rights  renei'ved.) 


Preface 


The  present  book  I  address  to  the  British  pubhc,  who, 
during  my  stay  in  the  United  Kingdom,  ever  impressed 
me  as  eager  to  know  and  to  learn,  and  who  have  plied  me 
with  hundreds  of  questions  about  the  Eoumanians,  of 
whom  indeed,  and  quite  naturally,  they  knew  but  little. 
This  volume  is  not  intended  as  a  book  of  controversy  or 
polemics,  it  does  not  pretend  to  fight  out  the  cause  of 
the  Roumanian  nation,  it  simply  aims  at  showing  and 
describing  what  the  Roumanian  nation  is,  or  at  least  the 
genuine  and  most  interesting  part  of  it,  the  peasants. 

No  moment  seems  more  appropriate  for  putting  it 
before  the  public  than  this  very  year,  when  the 
Roumanians  are  celebrating  their  eighteenth  centenary 
in  the  Carpathian  region,  the  fortieth  anniversary  of 
King  Carol  I.  on  the  throne  of  Free  Roumania,  the 
thirtieth  anniversary  of  her  independence,  and  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  young  kingdom. 

A  national  exhibition  in  Bucharest,  opened  for  the 
occasion,  will  help  to  show  the  progress  made  by  the 
nation  at  large.  What  would  not  this  progress  be, 
were  it  the  result  of  a  civilisation  of  eighteen  cen- 
turies standing !  But,  out  of  the  eighteen  centuries, 
ten  have  to  be  deducted,  having  been  filled  by  the 
unrelenting  barbaric  invasions  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  of 
the  remaining  eight  hundred,  more  than  seven  centuries 
ought  again  to  be  taken  out,  as  quite  unprogressive, 
owing  to  Turkish  suzerainty.    Thus,  what  the  Roumanian 


212050 


vi  PREFACE 

exhibition  will  have  to  show  will  be  only  the  progress 
accomplished  in  the  last  half -century,  with  the  union 
of  Free  Koumania  as  foundation  stone  for  all  further 
progress.  In  1859  half  of  the  Koumanian  nation 
were  able  to  unite  in  the  principality,  afterwards  the 
kingdom,  of  Eoumania;  in  the  last  war,  1877-1878, 
under  the  glorious  leadership  of  King  Carol  I.,  she  won 
her  independence,  being  thus  entrusted  by  fate  with  the 
heavy  responsibility  of  representing  the  nation  before 
the  world. 

As  to  the  war  of  independence,  I  do  not  think  it  can 
ever  be  made  too  much  of.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
general  history  it  may  have  been  a  small  war,  but  for 
us  Roumanians  it  has  been  a  great  war,  a  tremendous 
war.  In  order  fully  to  realise  its  magnitude,  let  us 
imagine  for  one  moment  what  might  have  become  of 
us  had  we  been  beaten.  Woe  to  us,  for  everything  was 
at  stake — union,  liberty,  our  very  existence !  And  we 
might  have  been  beaten,  for  our  army  though  brave  (as 
it  has  proved  to  be)  was  small  and  untried  on  the  battle- 
field as  yet.  But  we  have  been  victorious,  and  the 
achievement  was  entirely  due  to  the  wonderful  ability 
and  warlike  skill  of  the  present  king,  as  has  been  acknow- 
ledged by  all  those  competent  to  give  an  opinion  on  the 
matter.  That  is  why  the  grateful  people  eagerly  seizes 
every  opportunity  of  feasting  its  king,  and  will  always 
couple  the  name  of  Carol  I.  with  the  greatest  names 
in  history. 

The  connections  of  the  Free  Kingdom  with  foreign 
countries  are  many  and  ever  developing.  The  Rou- 
manian flag  has  now  begun  to  fly  far  away  over 
seas — this  very  year  new  lines  are  going  to  be  in- 
augurated. Of  the  ships  in  course  of  being  built  this 
year  for  Roumania — ships  built  in  foreign  dockyards 
but  on  plans  and  under  supervision  of  Roumanian 
engineers — two  are  christened  with  the  historical  names 
of  Imparatul  Trajan  (Emperor  Trajan)  and  Dacia,  in 
memory  of  the  deeds  accomplished  eighteen  centuries 
back  on  the  native  ground  of  the  Roumanian  nation. 
**  Good  luck  "  to  them,  and  may  they  long  live  to  carry 


PREFACE  vii 

far  and  wide  the  name  of  an  ever  greater  Roumania,  ever 
worthier  of  her  great  ancestors ;  may  the  national  exhibi- 
tion give  a  real  insight  into  the  power  and  ability  of  the 
Roumanian  nation ;  may  this  book  succeed  in  giving  a 
true  insight  into  the  soul  of  the  people  ! 

T.  S. 
Jassy,  Eoumania, 
April,  1906. 


Contents 


PAOB 

INTEODUCTION 1 


CHAPTEE  I 

PEASANT   AND   SOIL  .....  44 

CHAPTER  II 

THE    PEASANT   IN   THE    SOCIAL    SCALE  .  .  .80 

CHAPTER  III 

THE   PEASANT   AND   THE    STATE  ....  118 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE   PEASANT   AND   HIS   RELIGION      ....    156 

CHAPTER  V 

THE   PEASANT   IN    HIS   HOME   AND   AT   HIS   WORK  .  205 

CHAPTER   VI 

THE    PEASANT   IN    HIS    SOCIAL   RELATIONS      .  ,  .    247 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE! 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PEASANT  IN   HIS   RELATION   TO   FOREIGNERS  .  298 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   PEASANT   IN    HIS   AMUSEMENTS   AND   PASTIMES.  .    328 

INDEX 373 


List  of  Illustrations 


Old  Cotjple 

Frontispiece 

A  Sheep-Fold  on  the  Heights 

Facing  page    4 

A   "POIANA"      .... 

4 

Girls  minding  Sheep 

10 

Church  built  by  Stephen  the  Great 

23 

Oldest  Church  of  Stephen  the  Great 

23 

Up  in  the  "  POIANA  " 

39 

Peasant  Cottage 

44 

Ploughing 

44 

A  Woman  with  her  Distaff 

50 

Temporary  Hut  in  the  Fields 

60 

A  Raft  on  the  Bistritza      . 

60 

Boy  minding  Geese     . 

70 

Shepherds 

80 

North  Carpathian  Dress 

114 

Sawing  Timber 

118 

In  the  "Haraba"  (Closed  Cart) 

128 

A  Well  in  the  Plain 

138 

A  Monk            .... 

156 

The  Cathedral  "  Curtea  db  Arge§ 

>» 

161 

Priests  about  Town  . 

168 

The  Monastery  of  Varatec 

168 

Monk  at  work 

170 

Travelling  Monk 

170 

The  Monastery  of  Agapia    . 

180 

Peasant  Homestead    . 

205 

Ploughing 

217 

A  Cattle  Fair 

217 

xi 

xu 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Carrying  the  Hay 
With  Hay  to  Town   . 

Facing 

page  228 
228 

Carriers 

234 

Woman  Biding 

237 

Homeward  Bound 

240 

A  Swain 

240 

Wool  Spinning 

242 

Family  Group  . 

,          247 

Carriers 

252 

Old  Decayed  Dwelling 

252 

Bleaching  the  Linen 

269 

Washerwomen 

269 

Old  and  Weary 

289 

Oroup  of  Peasants     . 

289 

Gipsy  Camp 

317 

Gipsies  as  Tradesmen 

317 

Selling  Eggs  to  the  Jews  on  the 

Way  t 

0  Tow] 

313 

Jews  in  the  North  of  Moldavia 

315 

Gipsies  Camping 

319 

A  "  ScRANCiOB  "  (on  the  Outskirts  of 

a  Town 

) 

329 

Dancing  the  "  Db  Brau  "     . 

336 

Fig.  1.— Cobza 

343 

„   2.— Telinca 

843 

„   3.— Trisca 

343 

„     4.— C  AVAL 

344 

„   5.— Flubr  cu  Dop 

344 

„   6. — Naiu  . 

344 

„   7. — ^Bucium 

344 

„   8. — CiMPOi 

345 

„   9. — Dramba 

345 

To  the  Dance  at  the  Inn 
Fig.  10.— Buhai 

Facing  page   347 
368 

„    11.— DairI 

359 

The  Dancing  Bear     . 
On  the  Way    . 

Facing 

page  359 
361 

MAPS 

General  Map  showing  Surroundings  of  Roumania     Facing  p.    1 
Where  Roumanians  Live  ......         2 


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INTRODUCTION 

DESCRIPTIVE  AND  HISTORICAL 


"  When  God  resolved  to  make  the  earth,  He  took  a  ball  of  warp 
and  another  of  woof,  and  after  calculating  the  heaven's  size  set  to 
work,  giving  the  ball  of  warp  to  the  hedgehog  to  hold.  But  the 
cunning  little  beast  let  the  ball  go  loose,  so  that  the  Creator, 
unawares,  made  an  earth  much  too  large  to  be  fitted  imder  the  sky. 
What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  Almighty  stood  there,  puzzled  and 
annoyed,  when  the  industrious  bee  came  to  the  rescue.  She  quietly 
flew  round  the  hiding-place  of  the  hedgehog,  and  heard  him  say: 
'  H'm,  if  I  were  God,  I  would  simply  take  the  earth  with  both  hands, 
crush  it  together,  and  thus  produce  on  its  surface  mountains  and 
valleys,  and  fit  it  under  the  sky.'  The  bee  informed  God  of  what  she 
had  heard,  and  He,  following  the  hedgehog's  hint,  crushed  the  earth 
and  gave  it  its  present  shape,  with  mountains,  hills,  and  valleys, 
instead  of  the  even  surface  He  had  at  first  decided  upon." — 
Boumanian  Popular  Tradition. 

The  Carpathian  chain,  in  the  shape  of  an  irregular  bow, 
somewhat  crushed  towards  the  south-east,  leans  with 
both  ends  on  the  Danube ;  one  end  in  the  region  Vienna- 
Presburg,  leaving  off  beyond  the  river,  the  last  ramifica- 
tions of  the  Alps,  the  other  end  bending  again  towards 
the  Danube  at  the  Iron  Gates,  which  sever  it  from  the 
north-western  end  of  the  Balkan  :  this  as  a  general 
outline.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Carpathians  are  made  up 
of  a  number  of  chains  and  peaks,  the  south-eastern 
branch  being,  however,  the  longest  and  compactest  of 
these  chains.  South  of  the  Danube  ramifications  of  the 
Carpathians   and  Alps,  as  well   as  simple  independent 

2  1 


2  INTRODUCTION 

groups,  make  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  a  mosaic  of 
mountains  and  vales,  a  chief  backbone,  however,  being 
traceable  from  the  Balkan  to  the  Pindus. 

If  in  actual  framework  the  Carpathians  and  Pindus 
yield  the  first  rank  to  the  mighty  Alps,  they  have  been 
better  provided  for  with  regard  to  their  external  aspect 
and  with  a  warmer  and  greater  richness  of  colour ;  they 
have  also  a  most  luxuriant  vegetation.  I  wonder  if  there 
exists  in  Europe  another  region  covered  with  an  ampler 
or  thicker  cloak  of  forest,  so  far  in  great  part  untrodden 
by  human  foot.  Beneath  the  trees  a  soft  moss  covers 
the  ground,  and  beyond  the  forest  region  the  region  of 
the  herbs  begins,  with  a  flora  richer  than  any  in  Europe, 
which  has  made  for  generations  the  Carpathian  region  a 
dominion  of  the  bees,  a  land  of  honey.  The  edelweiss 
is  to  be  picked  up  in  the  Carpathians  at  only  640  m. 
high  above  sea-level;  rare  plants,  like  the  Caucasian 
Galium  valantoides  are  to  be  found  in  the  Olt  valley, 
side  by  side  with  the  Siberian  Veronica  Bachofeni. 
Then  the  white  and  blue  crocuses,  coming  out  early  in 
spring  to  trim  with  a  gorgeous  hem  the  white  retreating 
cloak  of  snow  on  both  Carpathian  and  Pindus ;  lower 
down,  the  hyacinth,  the  cowslip,  the  violet ;  and  lowest  of 
all,  the  rich  variety  of  innumerable  field  flowers  which 
make  of  the  hay-field  the  most  gorgeous  mosaic  of  bright 
colours. 

On  such  a  carpet  and  under  such  shade  still  walk 
about  in  full  enjoyment  of  life  the  heavy  bear,  feeding 
leisurely  on  the  plentiful  raspberries  and  strawberries, 
entirely  unmindful  of  man  picking  the  tasty  fruit  a  few 
steps  beyond ;  the  wolf,  hunting  in  herds,  a  dreadful 
nuisance  in  winter  to  man  and  beast,  even  into  the 
villages  down  in  the  plain  ;  the  sly  red  fox,  much  hunted 
for  its  fur.  The  wild  goat  and  the  powerful  buffalo  are 
an  extinct  race  now,  leaving  only  their  impressive  names 
behind ;  the  lynx  and  the  marten  are  becoming  rare, 
while  the  meek,  timorous  chamois  is  still  to  be  met  with 
in  quiet,  remote  comers  of  the  mountains.  Endless  herds 
of  roes  and  stags  are  an  easy  quarry  for  the  cruel  wild 
boar,  an  ordinary  inmate  of  the  mountain  slopes.     Lower 


s  s  J-'^ 


^^^^^^^c^^^ 


Free  Roumanians    ?5^^ 


Roumanians  under 
Foreign  Dominion 


(many ;  compact  population) 
(few) 


Where  Roumanians  Live. 


face,  page  2. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

down  numberless  quadrupeds  of  all  sizes  and  appear- 
ances, doing  more  or  less  harm  to  man  and  as  much  as 
they  can  to  their  weaker  fellow  animals,  fill  with  life  the 
most  solitary  fields  and  the  darkest  woods,  whilst  high 
above  them  innumerable  birds  fill  the  forests  with  their 
interminable  concerts.  Kuling  and  reigning  over  all, 
even  in  the  plain  and  especially  about  the  Dobrogia, 
hover  the  rapacious  kings  of  the  mountains,  the  hawks 
and  the  eagles  in  close  flocks,  and  often  of  enormous  size. 
Insects  in  millions  are  there,  some  of  them  harmful,  with 
butterflies  such  as  might  be  expected  in  such  flowery 
hay-fields.  The  clear  mountain  streams  swarm  with 
trout ;  the  shad-fish  in  the  Prut  and  the  sturgeon  in  the 
Danube  mouths  and  in  the  Black  Sea,  with  its  caviar 
and  isinglass,  enjoy  a  worldwide  renown. 

Beside  these  living  products  on  their  surface,  the 
mountains,  both  north  and  south  of  the  Danube,  contain 
in  their  bosom  stores  of  mineral  wealth,  to  a  great  extent 
unsounded  as  yet,  little  of  it  opened  to  man's  use.  The 
gold  mines  of  Hungary  and  Transylvania  are  the  source 
of  nearly  the  whole  gold  output  in  Europe,  and  it  is 
notorious  that  they  long  ago  produced  more,  and  seem  to 
have  abounded  with  gold  in  the  Roman  times.  Salt 
mines,  rich  springs  of  petroleum  and  of  mineral  w^aters, 
are  worked  out  with  ever  increasing  success. 


II 

"  Apa  trage  la  matca 
^i  Eomanul  la  teapa." 
("  Water  draws  to  its  current 
the  Eoumanian  to  his  race.") 

Mysterious  and  impenetrable  as  the  Carpathian  and 
Pindus  are  in  many  respects  down  to  the  present  day,  a 
no  less  thick  veil  hangs  above  the  earliest  inhabitants  of 
the  regions  round  about  them.  History  has  already 
failed  to  find  out  the  life  and  whereabouts  of  man  in  his 
earliest  primitive  stage  in  the  world ;  archaeology,  which 
has  done   so  much  in  Western  Europe,  has  spent  but 


4  INTRODUCTION 

little  labour  in  the  East  as  yet.  The  few  poor,  groping 
excavations  have  so  far  brought  to  light  numerous  spots 
containing  large  stores  of  primitive  stone  implements, 
spots  to  be  found  everywhere  about  the  Carpathian,  in 
Bukowina,  Transylvania,  Eoumania,  where  these  stations 
of  stone  and  bronze  implements,  along  with  funeral 
tumuli,  are  to  be  counted  by  the  hundred.  Interesting 
though  these  finds  may  be,  they  have  proved,  however, 
quite  unable  to  give  an  answer  to  the  still  unanswered 
question  as  to  the  beginnings  of  man  and  the  cradle  of 
the  human  race  or  races ;  nothing  yet  decisive  on  this 
point  has  been  discovered  in  them,  granting  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  Carpathian  region  may  have  been  the 
dwelling-place  of  man  even  as  far  back  as  the  Palaeolithic 
Period.  But  the  last  word  is  far  from  having  been  said 
on  the  subject :  so  much  has  already  been  discovered  in 
the  world  that  was  never  dreamt  of  before,  and  surely 
science  has  still  in  store  secrets  for  human  knowledge 
quite  sufiicient  to  keep  alive  an  interest  in  life  and  lend  it 
a  peculiar  worth  and  pleasantness  for  millions  of  years 
to  come. 

The  stations  just  opened  for  digging  are  so  many  and 
so  filled  with  primitive  remains,  that  they  might  freely 
provide  with  valuable  specimens  all  the  public  and 
private  museums  in  Europe  and  beyond  the  seas,  if  only 
properly  worked  out.  They  contain  numberless  knives, 
axes,  hatchets,  lance  and  arrow-heads,  made  of  either 
flint  or  grit-stone  ;  the  shapes  are  various  :  most  of  them 
are  polished,  some  just  only  roughly  cut.  On  account  of  the 
great  predominance  of  the  polished  stone  implements, 
the  stations  have  been  all  attributed  to  the  Neolithic 
Period  only.  Besides  the  stone  objects  a  large  supply  of 
earthenware  ones  are  found,  moulded  of  rough  clay,  with 
the  traces  of  the  maker's  fingers  on  them  ;  pots  and  jars, 
and  nameless  hooks  and  things  supposed  to  have  been 
used  in  fishing  and  spinning ;  and  finally  a  great  number 
of  idols  and  amulets,  of  the  funniest  shapes  and  designs. 
To  the  same  epoch  seem  to  belong  a  number  of  tumuli, 
in  which  skeletons  have  been  found  together  with  only 
stone  and  clay  implements.    Many  stations  again,  with 


A  Sheep  fold  on  the  Heights. 


[Photo,  D.  Cadere. 


^.      ^y^.^^^^ 


A    "  POIANA." 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


ONtVL-HSlTY 

OF  ^ 


INTRODUCTION  5 

tumuli,  are  undoubtedly  of  the  Bronze  Period :  all  sorts 
of  weapons,  of  house  and  field  implements ;  also  many 
ornamental  objects,  like  pins,  clasps,  armbands,  neck- 
laces, beads,  chains,  and  again  a  lot  of  idols  of  all  sorts 
and  shapes,  real  or  allegorical.  The  pottery  of  this  epoch 
bears  witness  of  great  advance  in  that  art  too,  and  as  to 
design,  it  is  supposed  to  belong  to  no  less  a  family  than 
the  Mykene  pottery. 

The  Carpathians  seem  to  be  gaining  a  new  importance, 
and  consequently  hold  a  more  interesting  place  in  history, 
by  the  latest  assumption  of  the  savants,  that  these 
mountains  may  have  rocked  on  their  powerful  bosom  the 
Aryan  race. 

Thus,  with  just  a  suspicion  as  to  the  paternity  of  the 
Aryans  about  them,  the  Carpathians  have  been  waiting 
in  the  dark  a  good  long  while,  until  the  dawn  of  civilisa- 
tion shed  its  first  beams  upon  them,  and  it  was  from  the 
South  that  these  came.  As  is  generally  known,  the  first 
light  of  civilisation  came  upon  Europe  from  the  Orient, 
brought  through  those  Britishers  of  old,  the  Phoenicians, 
the  great  merchants  of  antiquity ;.  this  civilisation 
developed  first  in  Greece,  whence'  it  spread  northward 
and  westward,  arousing  to  new  life  the  peoples  as  it  went 
along — the  Macedonians,  the  Eomans  afterwards,  but 
leaving  still  at  a  lower  stage  the  Thracians,  those  remote 
neighbours  in  the  north  occupying  the  ground,  from  the 
Bosphorus  and  Hellespont  northwards  over  both  shores 
of  the  Danube,  up  to  the  Carpathians,  and  meeting  in 
the  west  with  the  Illyrians,  who  in  their  turn,  mixed 
with  Celtic  tribes,  reached  as  Celto-IUyrians  or  SMpetars 
the  shore  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  Lower  down  on  the 
ladder  of  civilisation  were  the  Thracians'  brothers,  the 
Agathyrses,  dwellers  of  the  Carpathian  mountains,  and 
lower  still  their  remoter  relatives  and  neighbours,  the 
Scythians,  nominal  masters  of  the  plains  extending  from 
the  Danube  far  into  the  east,  to  the  Caspian  and  Aral 
lake.  By  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  however,  these 
latters'  power  having  been  overthrown  by  the  Sarmates, 
in  the  eastern  region  of  the  Dniester,  two  Thracian  tribes, 
the  Dacians  and  the  Getes,  came  thence  to  the  front  as 


6  INTRODUCTION 

masters  of  the  Danube  valley,  whose  actual  inhabitants 
they  long  since  had  been  under  Scythian  rule.  As  their 
power  stretched  northwards  the  whole  Carpatic  region 
took  the  name  of  Dacia. 

In  the  course  of  time  Greece,  then  Macedonia,  had 
played  its  part  in  the  world's  history.  A  new  power 
arose — Kome — which  from  Italy  was  to  stretch  out  her 
grasping  hands  to  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  Her 
conquests  towards  the  East  only  are  of  import  to  us  here, 
namely,  that  of  the  Balkan  peninsula,  which  was  made 
by  very  slow  steps  only,  pressing  along  with  it  the 
Roman  influence  all  along  the  Danube  valley,  whilst  the 
south  of  the  peninsula  was  developing  under  the  stronger 
Greek  influence.  Now  across  the  Danube  wars  with  the 
Dacians  easily  ensued,  and  the  final  result  was  the 
conquest  of  Dacia  by  the  Romans,  106  a.d. 

The  Roman  province  of  Dacia  was  formed  of  the 
Banat  of  to-day,  the  Oltenia — or  western  part  of  Valachia 
down  to  the  Olt — and  the  plateau  of  Transylvania  proper, 
which,  like  a  natural  stronghold,  became  the  centre  and 
the  basis  of  the  Roman  domination  and  the  focus  of  its 
influence  in  those  parts.  On  almost  all  sides  the  new 
territory  acquired  was  surrounded  by  barbarians.  To 
defend  the  new  province  against  them,  Trajan  founded 
military  stations  on  the  slopes ;  around  and  from  these 
stations  Roman  influence  spread  out  beyond  the  area 
of  the  actual  province. 

After  the  conquest  of  Dacia,  Roman  influence  and 
civilisation  covered  like  one  single  sheet  both  shores  of 
the  Danube,  less  potent,  of  course,  in  proportion  as  it 
reached  a  greater  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  Empire, 
but  Dacia,  was,  nevertheless,  an  exception  in  this  respect, 
and  there  were  strong  reasons  for  the  fact  that  Romani- 
sation  was  more  complete  here  than  anywhere  else. 
Indeed,  we  know  that  many  Romans  had  settled  there 
before  the  conquest — we  must  not  forget  that  Dacia  was 
the  California  of  those  days  of  scarcity  of  gold — and 
Trajan  himself  brought  here  colonists  from  every  part  of 
his  immense  empire,  but  much  more,  of  course,  from  the 
eastern  regions,   as  innumerable  inscriptions  found   in 


INTRODUCTION  7 

Dacia  bear  witness  to  the  present  day.  Still  more 
colonists  came  of  their  own  private  initiative,  attracted 
by  the  riches  of  Dacia.  Koman  life,  Roman  usages, 
Roman  civilisation  were  introduced  into  the  Carpathians, 
and  in  short  time  the  Dacians,  who  still  remained  after 
the  conquest,  accepted  the  Roman  rule,  and  were 
Romanised  and  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  Roman 
colonists.  Fine  towns  arose,  and  Roman  life  unfolds 
itself  in  Dacia  as  in  Italy.  Romanised  Dacians  were 
admitted  into  the  Roman  armies,  like  the  cohorta  I  Aelia 
Bacorum  settled  in  Britannia,  the  England  of  to-day,  and 
many  others.  The  *' flying  dragoon"  of  the  old  Dacian 
flag  is  preserved  on  the  Daco-Roman  arms,  together  with 
the  bent  sword,  also  a  Dacian  weapon. 

For  a  century  and  a  half  Dacia  was  part  and  parcel  of 
the  Empire,  quite  long  enough  for  the  Romanising  of  a 
province  which,  like  Dacia,  attracted  such  crowds  of 
settlers,  more  even  than  the  emperors  were  willing  to 
allow.  Indeed,  it  is  notorious  that  even  Trajan  was  loth 
to  let  so  many  colonists  go  away  from  Italy,  as  the 
Roman  element  in  that  country  was  only  too  diminished 
already;  nevertheless,  inscriptions  are  there  to  testify 
that  a  great  many  of  the  settlers  came  from  Italy,  the 
very  heart  of  the  Empire. 

Whilst  Roman  civilisation  was  thus  taking  lasting  root 
in  the  Carpathians,  aided  by  the  richness  of  the  soil, 
the  increasing  commerce,  and  the  natural  fortifications  of 
Dacia,  south  of  the  Danube  in  the  Pindic  region, 
Romanisation,  strangled  by  the  Greeks,  was  slowly  but 
surely  dying  out.  The  Pindus  was  far  from  affording 
as  suitable  a  soil  for  the  thriving  of  Roman  seed  as  the 
Carpathian  did. 

If  for  a  century  and  a  half  Dacia  was  a  Roman 
province,  her  life  was  far  from  being  a  quiet,  uniform  one 
all  this  time,  and,  following  Trajan,  emperor  after  emperor 
had  to  repel  ever  recurring  invasions  of  the  eastern  and 
northern  barbarian  neighbours.  One  Roman  writer  tells 
us  that  the  immediate  successor  of  Trajan  was  so 
disgusted  with  the  constant  struggles  he  had  to  maintain 
for  the  preservation  of  Dacia — the  more  so  as  Adrian  was 


8  INTRODUCTION 

by  no  means  a  warrior — that  he  was  inclined  simply  to 
renounce  the  conquests  of  his  predecessor.  He  was, 
however,  dissuaded  from  this  by  his  counsellors,  who 
insisted  that  "  it  would  be  a  great  pity  to  leave  so  many 
Eoman  citizens  helpless  against  the  barbarians" — an 
argument  which  clearly  implied  that  if  the  Emperor 
deserted  Dacia,  the  citizens  would  not.  Thus  Dacia 
continued  its  life  still  under  the  wing  of  Roman  rule. 

But  the  invasions  continued  relentlessly ;  from  the 
time  of  Caracalla  (211-217)  the  Goths  began  their 
incursions,  which  soon  became  so  troublesome  that  at 
the  time  of  Gallienus  the  province  was  already  looked 
upon  as  lost  for  the  Empire.  Its  actual  renunciation 
was,  however,  resolved  upon  about  the  year  271  by  the 
Emperor  Aurelianus  (270-275),  so  that  for  about  half  a 
century  Dacia  was  the  platform  of  continual  battles 
between  the  Roman  legions  and  the  barbarian  invaders. 
In  this  half-century  of  extreme  hardship,  what  were  these 
peaceful  Daco-Roman  provincials  to  do?  To  wait  serenely 
to  be  overcome  and  plundered  by  the  wild  invader  ?  To 
go  away  looking  for  more  propitious  penates  ?  No  doubt 
a  good  many  of  the  well-to-do  class  gathered  together 
their  capital  and  movable  wealth,  and  left  Dacia  for  safer 
regions  of  the  Empire.  But  what  could  the  poor  do? 
Their  homesteads  destroyed,  their  tilled  lands  ravaged, 
what  could  they  do  but  look  for  safety  somewhere  for 
themselves  and  the  few  heads  of  cattle  or  sheep  they  may 
have  been  able  to  save  from  the  enemy  ?  But  where  were 
they  to  go  ?  The  right  bank  of  the  Danube  was  just  as 
badly  ravaged  by  the  Goths  as  the  left  bank;  in  fact, 
most  of  the  bloodiest  battles  took  place  there ;  so  that 
really  there  was  no  escape  for  the  poor  provincials,  except 
to  the  top  of  the  mountains,  where  the  barbarian  invaders 
never  cared  to  go,  whether  in  the  Carpathians  or  elsewhere. 
To  the  mountains,  then,  they  went  like  the  fair  Dokia  * 

*  The  remembrance  of  Trajan's  conquest  the  Eoumanian  people 
has  preserved  in  the  following  tradition  faithfully  handed  down  from 
father  to  son :  "Decebalus  had  a  sister,  Dokia;  she  was  fair  and 
pleased  the  Eoman  Emperor.  In  order  to  escape  his  pressing  suit, 
the  fair  princess  fled  to  the  mountains,  and  disguised  herself  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  9 

of  old,  and,  like  her,  became  shepherds.  In  the  moun- 
tains they  found  a  safe  shelter  for  themselves,  and  fertile 
poianas  (glades)  for  their  flocks,  keeping  in  their  turn 
safe  from  oblivion  the  very  name  of  the  Carpathian,  many 
of  the  peaks  bearing  still  to-day  the  name  of  Carpatin. 
Beside  this  name,  the  older  one  of  Caucasus  mons  has 
also  been  preserved  by  the  people  in  the  mount  Cocan 
by  the  Kiver  Olt.  They  named  one  of  the  mountains, 
or  perhaps  rather  preserved  its  name,  as  Muntele 
Ghrestianilor  ("the  mountain  of  the  Christians")  preserved 
in  its  popular  Latin  form  down  to  the  present  day, 
when  the  Eoumanian  says  no  more  *'chrestianus"  but 
"  creshtin  "  ;  they  kept  ahve  the  Latin  names  of  various 
other  peaks:  the  Detunata,  with  its  crown  of  basaltic 
pillars,  the  Gama,  the  Marmura  mountains.  Wandering 
at  random  over  hills  and  over  streams,  they  must  have 
often  dreamed  of  the  past  ages,  of  the  conditions  of  life 
created  for  them  by  past  generations,  and  have  evoked 
in  fancy  the  great  figure  of  Trajan.  His  name  they  have 
actually  preserved  in  the  "Trajan's  table,"  "Trajan's 
prairie,"  "  Trajan's  walls,"  eventually  handed  down  in 
the  common  word  troian,  drift  of  snow,  gathered  by  the 
wind  in  a  shape  very  much  like  the  walls  made  by 
Trajan ;  they  have  also  preserved  it  in  the  very  name  of 
the  Milky  Way,  called  by  the  Eoumanian  people  Galea  lui 
Trajan  ("  Trajan's  road ").  They  have  saved  from 
oblivion  the  names  of  the  Dacian  Cerna,  of  the  Bersava, 
Motru,  Olt,  &c.,  down  to  the  Scythian  rivers.  Prut,  Siret, 
Argesh,  Muresh,  and  down  further  to  the  Dacian  "  cloud 
bearer  "  Dunare  (the  Greek  Ister)  of  which  the  Romans 
have  made  Danuhius. 

When  Aurehanus  decided  upon  the  desertion  of  Dacia 
there  was  practically  not  much  left  for  him  to  desert. 
Dacia  having  been  really  in  the  hands  of  the  Goths  for 
the  last  ten  years,  Aurelianus  transferred  the  province 
formally  to  them,  as  federates  of  the  Empire,  however, 
which  means  that  the  Empire  .had  not  altogether  given  up 

simple  dress  of  a  shepherdess.  But  Trajan  pursued  her,  overtook  her 
and  was  on  the  point  of  seizing  her,  when  she  prayed  her  pagan  gods 
to  save  her,  and  they  turned  her  and  her  sheep  into  stones." 


10  INTRODUCTION 

any  claim  on  that  province.  These  federates  had  as  chief 
obligation  to  protect  the  frontier  of  the  Empire  against 
other  invasions.  The  two  Koman  legions  settled  in 
Dacia  for  her  defence  ever  since  Trajan,  were  called  back 
by  Aurelianus ;  they  crossed  the  Danube.  In  their  rear 
there  may  have  marched  off  a  fairly  large  crowd  of 
magistrates  and  officials  dependent  on  the  Koman  Govern- 
ment ;  many  monied  people  also,  who  could  do  no  more 
business  in  deserted,  unsafe  Dacia,  under  the  depredating 
power  of  the  Goths,  went  too,  very  likely,  followed  by  a 
good  many  of  their  hangers-on.  These  settled  down  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Danube,  in  the  middle  of  Moesia — 
a  small  region  made  up  of  the  east  of  Servia  and  the 
west  of  Bulgaria — which  received  henceforth  the  name 
of  Aurelian's  Dacia,  while  the  old  Dacia  remained  under 
the  name  of  Trajan's  Dacia.  Thus  came  the  first  split 
between  members  of  the  same  family.  In  their  continual 
wanderings  up-hill  and  down-hill  the  Daco-Eomans  who 
remained  behind  in  the  north  may  still  have  communi- 
cated with  their  brothers  across  the  Danube,  but  to  what 
extent  and  for  how  long  no  one  can  say.  Between  the 
flooding  waves  of  repeated  Germanic  and  Mongolian 
invasions,  which  were  to  follow  for  ten  successive 
centuries,  which  invasions  came  like  storms  and  like 
storms  passed  away,  uprooting,  of  course,  from  the 
foundation  Koman  institutions  and  Koman  civilisation, 
the  Daco-Komans,  retiring  from  the  low  places  before  the 
flood  of  Barbarians,  managed  to  reach  the  heights,  the 
mountains,  where  they  could  keep  alive  and  evolve  slowly 
into  the  Koumanians  of  the  present  day. 

For  a  thousand  years  the  chief  abode  of  the  Rou- 
manians has  been  the  lofty  summits  of  the  Carpathians 
on  one  side,  of  the  Balkan,  Khodope,  and  Pindus  on  the 
other.  For  a  thousand  years  thirty  generations  at  least 
of  Koumanians  have  led  the  wandering  pastoral  life, 
each  handing  down  to  the  next  one  a  fainter  and  fainter 
memory  of  the  past,  each  burying  along  with  itself  some- 
thing more  of  the  Roman  civilisation.  Civilisation  has 
died  out.  Since  then  there  has  been  no  more  education 
provided  for  the  wandering   Roumanian  mountaineer; 


RSITY 

'  INTRODUCTION  11 

that  is,  no  conventional  education,  but  a  great  teacher 
has  been  there  in  the  shape  of  grand,  mighty  Nature, 
presiding  on  the  heights,  under  whose  influence  the 
Eoumanian's  character  has  been  moulded;  his  habits,  his 
beliefs,  his  superstitions  formed,  in  proportion  as  he  has 
tried  in  his  infantine  way  to  spell  out  great  Nature's  book. 
On  those  heights  did  the  Koumanian  nation  take  a  lasting 
shape — the  mountains  are  the  creators  as  well  as  the 
cradle  of  the  Koumanian  nation. 


Ill 

"Apa  trece  petrele  ramS,n." 
("The  water  passes,  the  stones  remain.") 

The  first  invasions,  as  already  seen,  preceded  by  half 
a  century  the  desertion  of  the  Dacian  province.  The 
first  to  come  were  the  Goths,  who  from  250  a.d.  were 
to  be  found  everywhere,  south  as  well  as  north  of  the 
Danube.  After  the  Goths,  the  Huns,  who  established 
themselves  in  the  plains  of  Tissa,  and  under  Attila  were 
the  nominal  masters  of  Central  Europe  from  the  Ehine 
to  the  Volga.  Behind  them,  the  Slav  race,  little  known 
yet,  except  through  its  modest  offshoots  sent  right  and 
left  from  the  large  main  trunk  lying  in  the  east  of 
Europe,  began  to  move  now,  in  slow  but  steadfast  waves 
from  east  towards  west  and  south.  The  Asiatic 
invasions  gave  an  impulse  towards  the  dismemberment 
of  this  agricultural,  peaceful  Slav  race,  which  henceforth, 
up  to  the  seventh  century,  will  do  nothing  but  expand, 
and  fill  all  mid-Europe  and  the  Balkan  peninsula, 
covering  the  whole  ethnographic  prospect.  This  mighty 
wave  of  Slav  invasion — overwhelming  the  plain — severed 
for  ever  the  Daco-Roman  brothers.  Moreover,  it  brought 
about  a  further  split ;  a  branch  of  these  Daco-Romans — 
lovers  of  the  heights — in  their  bewilderment  at  the 
invasion,  were  driven  back  up  the  Danube  as  far  as 
the  mountains  of  Istria.  At  the  same  time,  the  Daco- 
Eomans,   south  of  the  Danube,  soon  had  also  to  leave 


12  INTRODUCTION 

Aurelian's  Dacia  for  a  refuge  on  the  heights,  where  they 
also  took  to  pastoral  life,  and  in  face  of  recurrent 
invasions,  under  the  necessity  of  ever  new  and  ever 
larger  pastures  too,  drifted  away  from  Balkan  to  Ehodope, 
and  from  Ehodope  to  Pindus.  A  congenial  element  they 
may  have  found  in  the  descendants  of  the  old  Koman 
settlers  in  these  regions,  and,  owing  especially  to  the 
early  stage  of  the  language— still  pretty  much  the  popular 
Latin — must  have  mixed  with  these,  their  number  must 
have  increased  in  the  course  of  time,  and  so  no  wonder 
that  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  not  only 
Byzantine  but  also  western  Writers  call  Thessaly  Great 
Valachia,  Etholy  and  Acarnany  Small  Valachia. 

A  new  wave  of  Germanic  race,  the  Ostrogoths  and  the 
Gepides,  passed  over;  after  them  again  a  Mongolia 
wave,  the  Avars,  who  took  possession  of  the  ground 
by  destroying  the  former  occupants.  Thus  were  the 
barbarians  struggling  with  each  other  for  the  Carpathian 
plains,  while  the  Koumanian  shepherd  could  look  quietly 
at  their  bloody  struggles,  and,  leaning  on  his  crook  above 
on  the  heights,  "abide  his  time."  The  Avars'  nominal 
domination  of  Central  Europe  was  overthrown  only  by 
Charles  the  Great,  who  entirely  defeated  them.  But 
their  invasion  had  been  a  fierce  one.  A  great  many 
Slavs  took  to  flight  from  the  plains  before  them,  and 
found  a  shelter  in  the  hospitable  Carpathians.  There 
they  met  the  Eoumanians,  whom  they  probably  already 
had  known  slightly  during  the  rare  moments  of  respite 
between  the  invasions  when  the  Eoumanians  could 
venture  down  into  the  lower  valleys.  They  got  to  know 
each  other  better  now  in  moments  of  danger,  when  the 
Slavs  were  driven  up  the  mountains  by  the  Avars.  Slavs 
and  Eoumanians,  undergoing  almost  the  same  conditions 
of  life,  met  on  friendly  terms,  lived  side  by  side,  and 
mingled.  The  Eoumanians  neutralised  and  Eomanised 
the  Slav  element ;  the  Eoumanian  language  was  enriched 
with  a  great  many  Slav  words,  but  remained  none  the 
less  a  neo-Latin  language  in  grammar  and  spirit. 
Whilst  this  fusion  was  going  on  in  the  mountains, 
down    in    the    deserted    valleys    new    waves    of    Slavs 


INTRODUCTION  13 

rushed  behind  the  Avaric  invasion,  making  still  more 
complete  the  separation  between  Carpathian  and  Balkan 
Roumanians. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  a  third  wave  of 
Mongols,  the  Bulgarians,  had  stepped  over  the  Oural 
into  Europe.  They  repeatedly  knocked  at  the  Byzantine 
door  but  without  any  success,  and,  up  to  the  seventh 
century,  they  were  obliged  to  live  on  the  northern  shore 
of  the  Black  Sea,  under  the  yoke  of  the  powerful  Avars, 
but  then  they  freed  themselves — helped  to  some  extent 
by  the  Valachians,  whose,  friendship  they  had  won  in  the 
meanwhile,  and  became  now  dangerous  to  Byzantium. 
In  671  part  of  them  crossed  the  Danube;  Aurelian's 
Dacia,  Moesia  inferior,  and  Scythia  minor  (the  Dobrogia) 
fell  under  their  power  together  with  the  population  of 
the  plain,  made  up  of  Slavs,  addicted  to  agriculture, 
whilst  the  Roumanians,  addicted  to  pastoral  life,  were 
driving  their  herds  from  poiana  to  poiana  from  Balkan 
to  Rhodope,  from  Rhodope  to  Pindus,  ever  southward 
bound,  in  proportion  as  Nature  seemed  kinder  and  the 
danger  of  the  invasion  less  pressing.  Thus  from 
Carpathian  to  Pindus  the  general  outlook  was  about 
the  same :  in  the  plains,  agricultural  Slavs,  in  the 
mountains,  pastoral  Roumanians ;  but  the  conditions 
of  life  in  the  two  sets  of  mountains  were  different. 
While  the  Carpathian  offered  a  natural  stronghold  to 
the  frightened  fugitive,  and  ample  supply  of  food  for 
his  flocks  in  its  extensive  glades,  the  Balkan-Pindic 
region,  with  its  narrow  dispersed  ridges  and  its  small 
glades  offered  opportunity  for  only  a  much  harder 
kind  of  life.  The  Carpathian  Roumanians,  in  their 
simple,  patriarchal  life,  could  thrive  and  multiply  and 
fill  the  mountains  to  such  an  extent  that  an  overflow 
beyond  was  possible  further  on.  The  Southern 
Roumanian  settled  also  his  catune  ("hamlets")  on  the 
heights,  but  had  to  roam  much  farther  for  pastures 
for  their  flocks  of  sheep,  goats,  and  horses,  and  got, 
after  all,  a  scantier  living.  But  whilst  the  Northern 
Roumanians  mixed  with  Slavs  and  easily  assimilated 
them,  the  Southern  Roumanians  were  much  more  under 


14  INTRODUCTION 

the  grip  of  Greek  influence,  which  was  a  conscious  one, 
and  accordingly  worked  consciously,  and  the  only  thing 
to  wonder  at  is  that  they  did  not  disappear  quicker 
and  entirely.  This  only  proves  the  persistent  vitality 
of  the  Roumanian  nation. 

Now  by  the  end  of  the  seventh  century  the  region 
between  Danube  and  Balkan  was  conquered  by  the 
Bulgarians,  who,  under  Asparuch,  founded  a  state 
with  great  fortunes  in  prospect,  and  having  the  Slavs 
for  their  subjects.  But  it  came  to  pass,  as  in  many 
other  similar  cases,  that  the  masters  were  conquered 
by  their  subjects,  morally,  for,  although  not  civilised 
themselves,  the  Slavs  were  much  less  barbarous  than 
the  Bulgarians.  Asparuch's  successors  soon  mastered 
a  large  part  of  the  Avaric  possessions,  after  the  Avars 
had  been  overthrown  by  the  Franks,  who,  busy  after- 
wards in  their  own  land,  paid  little  attention  thereafter 
to  the  Tissa  valley.  A  precise  dividing  line  between 
Frankish  and  Bulgarian  dominion  is  hard  to  draw, 
but  we  may  fairly  assume  that  the  Tissa  with  its 
banks  was  a  kind  of  neutral  ground  between  both ; 
beyond  that,  in  the  east,  Transylvania  and  Valachia 
were  subdued,  in  a  friendly  way,  it  appears,  by  the 
Bulgarians.  A  common  fate  seems  to  have  been  trying 
to  draw  near  the  two  branches  of  the  Roumanian 
nation,  for  the  Bulgarians,  masters  now  of  the  Car- 
pathian as  well  as  of  the  Balkan,  in  successful  struggles 
with  the  Byzantine  Emperors,  reached  down  to  the  gates 
of  Constantinople,  and  most  of  the  Roumanians  were 
under  Bulgarian  rule. 

But  the  Bulgarians  were  destined  to  play  a  much 
more  important  part  in  Roumanian  life,  for  in  the 
ninth  century  they  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and 
the  form  of  Bulgarian  worship  with  the  Bulgarian 
{i.e.,  Slav)  language  to  be  used  in  church  was  imposed 
on  all  throughout  the  Empire,  including  the  Roumanians. 
This  Slav  language,  in  Church  and  State,  was  preserved 
by  the  Roumanians  down  into  the  seventeenth  century. 
By  this  the  Roumanians  have  been  cut  off  from  western 
Latin  civilisation,  and,  although  the  Roumanians  never 


INTRODUCTION  15 

knew  or  spoke  the  Slav  language,  they  were  none  the 
less  prevented  from  partaking  in  the  Western  culture, 
and  were  arrested  for  centuries  in  their  natural  develop- 
ment towards  civilisation. 

In  the  meanwhile  a  fourth  wave  of  Mongolians  had 
come  in  view :  the  Hungarians,  who,  after  taking  up  a 
transient  abode  in  the  region  between  the  Dniester  and 
the  Pruth,  raged  round,  devastating  and  plundering,  now 
in  the  Byzantine,  now  in  the  Bulgarian  Empire,  until 
the  diplomatic  Greek  understood  the  advantage  of  using 
the  barbarians  against  each  other,  and  fraternised  with 
by  far  the  wildest  of  the  two.  At  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century  the  Hungarians  left  the  Dniester  and  came 
to  settle  down  in  the  valley  of  the  Tissa,  whence  they 
made  for  a  time  Western  Europe  shudder  with  their 
savage  invasions.  Behind  their  back  a  fifth  Mongolian 
people,  the  Petchenegues,  took  possession  of  the  Dniester 
valley,  having  close  by  on  their  heels  their  brothers, 
the  Cumans ;  they  occupied  the  valley  of  the  Pruth 
also,  their  farthest  point  west  being  Silistria,  on  the 
Danube.  The  situation  of  the  Bulgarian  Empire  then 
became  precarious,  and  still  more  so  when  the 
Hungarians,  beaten  repeatedly  in  the  west  by  the 
German  monarchs,  cast  an  envious  eye  eastward,  and 
began  their  attacks  upon  old  Dacia. 

Whilst  the  Hungarians  were  pushing  on  in  this  way, 
the  Bulgarians  had  also  to  deal  with  the  Byzantines, 
and  under  rather  adverse  conditions,  for  after  the  great 
Bulgarian  Tzar  Simeon  his  successors  were  weak,  and 
the  decadence  of  the  Bulgarian  Empire  had  begun. 
However,  they  resisted,  but  at  last  Basile  II.  succeeded 
in  completely  defeating  the  Bulgarians,  and  the  boundary 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire  was  once  more  pushed  to  the 
Danube  (1018). 

The  Bulgarian  Empire  having  fallen  to  pieces,  no 
wonder  that  the  Hungarians  took  advantage  of  the 
event  to  lay  hands  on  its  western  parts,  and  by  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  they  were  able  to 
inscribe  among  their  possessions  the  whole  of  the 
Carpathian    plateau,    under    the    name    of    Frovincia 


16  INTRODUCTION 

TransylvanUy  some  one  century  and  a  half  after  their 
arrival  in  the  valley  of  the  Tissa.  And  it  was  not  without 
a  struggle.  Small  chiefs — some  of  them  Eoumanians — 
Voyevodes  and  KneazeSy  remnants  of  the  Bulgarian 
organisation,  took  upon  them  the  defence  of  the  country ; 
they  fought  bravely  and  long,  but  were  overthrown.  In 
these  struggles  the  Eoumanians  took  part,  of  course; 
some  of  them  were  scattered  as  far  as  the  mountains 
of  Moravia,  where  a  remnant  of  them  is  to  be  met  with 
to-day,  entirely  Slavisized.  In  truth,  by  this  time  the 
Eoumanians  were  in  a  good  way  of  becoming  the  only 
people  indigenous  to  the  Carpathians,  the  Slavo- 
Bulgarian  element  having  been  gradually  sucked  up  by 
them — somewhat  as  the  Normans  were  swallowed  by 
the  Anglo-Saxon. 

By  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  the  Petchenegues 
also  came  over  the  body  of  the  prostrate  Bulgarians, 
and  were  face  to  face  with  the  Hungarians,  and  again 
the  barbarians  fought  with  each  other  for  the  Eoumanian 
ground.  The  Petchenegues  were  easily  defeated  between 
Hungarians  and  Cumans  ;  their  remnants  were  admitted 
as  settlers  in  Transylvania  and  Hungary.  The  struggle 
became  now  the  keener  between  the  Cumans,  who 
covered  the  outer  slopes  of  the  Carpathians,  and  the 
Hungarians,  who,  in  their  great  need  of  defending  the 
approaches  to  Transylvania,  settled  in  the  east  of  it 
the  Secklers,  or  boundary  settlers,  who  still  live  in  the 
east  of  Transylvania  to-day  under  the  name  of  Secui. 
Not  much  later  the  Hungarian  kings  filled  the  lowest 
valleys  of  the  plateau  with  German  settlers,  the  Saxons, 
or  Sashi,  as  they  are  called  by  the  Eoumanians,  who 
played  an  important  part  in  the  settling  down  of  Western 
civilisation  in  these  parts.  Up  to  the  thirteenth  century 
the  state  of  things  was  nearly  the  same  in  the  region 
of  the  Carpathians :  the  Eoumanians  on  the  mountains, 
the  Hungarians  fighting  at  their  feet  with  the  Cumans. 
But  the  Cumans  were  a  milder  kind  of  Mongols,  being 
Christians,  and  on  this  account  Eoumanians  and  Slavs 
found  it  possible  to  live  side  by  side  with  them.  Thus, 
during  the  domination  of  the  Cumans  in  the  plains  round 


INTRODUCTION  17 

the  Carpathians,  the  Eoumanians  began  again,  this  time 
with  more  lasting  success,  to  filter  down  along  the  slopes 
to  the  outskirts  of  the  mountains,  to  the  hilly  region,  and 
to  settle  down  into  some  form  of  government,  as  they 
had  a  remembrance  of  in  their  voyevodal  and  kneazial 
organisation  of  yore — they  were  modestly  taking  to  house- 
keeping for  themselves.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Slavs 
were  ever  quietly  filling  the  plains  along  the  rivers 
Dniester,  Prut,  and  Danube.  So  they  were  found  by  the 
last  Mongolian  invaders  in  the  thirteenth  century,  by 
the  Tartars. 

In  the  meantime  it  was  the  lot  of  the  Roumanians 
south  of  the  Danube  to  play  a  much  more  important 
part  in  history.  Namely,  in  1185,  the  Byzantine 
emperor,  Isaack  Angelus,  celebrating  his  wedding  with 
a  young  Hungarian  princess,  emptied  the  imperial 
treasury  of  its  last  penny.  New  taxations,  meant  to 
bring  in  new  revenues,  were  levied  on  the  people, 
chiefly  in  cattle  and  sheep,  and  these  pressed  rather 
more  roughly  on  the  mountain  herdsmen.  These  we 
know  to  have  been  Roumanians  in  overwhelming 
numbers.  A  deputation  was  sent  to  the  Emperor  with 
two  Roumanian  brothers  at  its  head,  Petru  and  Assan. 
They  fared  ill  at  court,  and  coming  back  discontented, 
they  provoked  a  rising  of  the  Roumanians,  in  which  the 
equally  discontented  Bulgarians  readily  joined.  The 
Assans  took  the  leadership.  Beaten,  they  fled  across 
the  Danube,  came  back  again  with  help  from  the  Cumans 
and  from  the  Roumanians,  who  in  the  Oltenia  seem  to 
have  preserved  their  independence  ever  since  the  over- 
throw of  the  old  Bulgarian  Empire,  defeated  the  Byzan- 
tines, and  with  so  brilliant  a  result  that  the  Bulgarians 
and  Roumanians  once  more  became  free,  and  once  more 
organised  a  free  State  under  the  name  of  the  **  Valacho- 
Bulgarian"  Empire,  with  the  Assan  dynasty  on  the  throne. 
The  greatest  among  them  was  the  third  brother  lonitzd 
("Little  John"),  who  received  the  imperial  crown  from 
the  Pope,  Innocent  III.,  on  the  promise  that  he  would 
accept  for  himself  and  his  Empire  the  Roman  Catholic 
Faith.     But  the  Assan  family  died  out  soon,  in  its  male 

3 


18  INTRODUCTION 

members  at  least,  through  violent  death  mostly;  Bul- 
garians came  to  the  throne.  The  Roumanians  were  put 
aside  little  by  little ;  the  Empire  became  more  and  more 
considered  as  Bulgarian  only,  and  it  was  under  that 
name  that  it  fell  under  the  Turks  later  on  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  This  was  the  last  sign  of  life  given 
in  history  by  the  Southern  Valachs;  henceforth  their 
voice  is  silenced,  their  name  falls  into  oblivion ;  they 
step  aside  and  keep  to  their  humble  pastoral  life. 

The  last  invasion  over  the  Oural  came  in  1223 ;  the 
Tartars,  under  Batu-Chan,  devastating  Russia  and 
Poland,  ravaged  Transylvania  and  Hungary.  The  effects 
of  this  dreadful  invasion  were  overwhelming ;  the  popu- 
lations were  massacred,  every  kind  of  wealth  was  plun- 
dered or  destroyed.  At  first  they  were  resisted,  and  by 
Roumanians,  too,  amongst  whom  one  chief  of  the 
Bassarab  family  ruling  the  Oltenia  was  conspicuous.  By 
this  time  the  existence  of  the  Roumanians  in  the  Car- 
pathians and  on  their  outer  slopes  is  indeed  proved  by 
several  contemporary  documents.  Quite  in  the  north, 
in  the  mountainous  Marmorosh,  there  was  such  a 
powerful  element  already,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the 
next  century  we  find  them  emigrating  towards  the  open 
valleys  of  Moldavia.  Roumanians  in  the  Bukovina,  on 
the  frontiers  of  Galicia,  are  mentioned  in  Byzantine 
writers  as  far  back  as  1164.  Lower  down  there  were 
also  Roumanians,  mentioned  also  in  papal  letters  as 
"  would-be  Christians  "  (Greek  Orthodox),  whom  the 
Cuman  Catholic  bishops  were  enjoined  to  try  to  convert 
to  the  "true  faith"  (Roman  Catholicism).  Farther 
west,  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Carpathians,  Rou- 
manians are  mentioned  as  being  organised  in  small 
states,  under  a  voyevode  or  a  kneaz,  the  most  important 
of  these  states  being  the  voyevodate  of  Oltenia,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Olt.  Thus  the  outer  slopes  of  the 
Carpathian  chain  were  girdled  from  the  Iron  Gates  up 
into  the  Bukovina  with  a  continuous  Roumanian  popula- 
tion on  the  way  to  get  more  and  more  into  official  state- 
life.  The  plains  were  covered  with  mostly  unorganised 
masses  of  Slavs ;  these  Slavs  have  been  all  Romanised  iu 


INTRODUCTION  19 

time  by  the  Roumanians,  who,  from  their  small  rudi- 
ments of  states  on  the  hills,  combined  in  the  two  states 
of  Valachia  and  Moldavia,  stretching  from  the  Carpa- 
thians to  the  Danube  and  Dniester  respectively.  The 
period  of  invasion  is  ended ;  real  state  life  now  begins  for 
the  Northern  Roumanians. 


IV 


"Sa  nu  dea  Dmnnezeu  Romantilui  cit  poate  rabda." 
("  May  God  never  give  the  Eoumanian  as  much  as  he  can  bearl  '*) 

Night  and  mystery  still  involve  the  coming  into 
existence  of  the  Valachian  State.  Its  very  name,  Mun- 
tenia,  seems  to  point  out  an  origin  from  beyond  the 
mountains,  Valachia  being  otherwise  mostly  a  flat 
country.  A  tradition  even,  which,  however,  can  by  no 
means  boast  of  any  originality,  contrives  to  show  that  the 
founders  of  the  State  came  over  from  Transylvania.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  also  held — and  on  stronger  motives 
— that  the  foundation  of  the  Valachian  principality  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  voyevode  of  Oltenia,  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Olt,  conquered  the  eastern  regions  also,  from 
the  Tartars,  extending  his  dominion  up  to  the  mouths  of 
the  Danube. 

Moldavia,  no  longer  exposed  to  the  Tartar  invasions, 
began,  however,  to  be  visited  by  Roumanians  from  the 
Marmorosh,  who,  finding  the  hills  suited  them,  settled 
down,  their  first  voyevode,  Dragosh,  respecting,  however, 
his  former  ties  with  the  Hungarian  kings.  But  in  1349 
another  voyevode,  Bogdan,  from  Marmorosh  also,  came 
with  followers,  overthrew  Dragosh's  successors,  and 
taking  hold  of  the  country  shook  off  at  the  same  time 
the  Hungarian  yoke.  That  is  the  foundation  of  Mol- 
davia. It  has  been  stamped  on  the  memory  of  the 
Moldavian  people  and  faithfully  handed  down  through 
generations  in  the  following  genuine  tradition : — 

A  young  voyevode  from  Maramuresh,  Dragosh- voda, 
going  a-hunting  in  the  mountains  with  his  suite,  was  led 


20  INTRODUCTION 

astray  by  a  buffalo,  a  hour  or  zimbru,  and  running  after 
him,  arrived  in  a  beautiful  hilly  region,  where  he  over- 
took the  buffalo  at  a  place  v^here  nov^  lies  a  village  v^^ith 
the  suggestive  name  of  Boureni  (bou  =  ox).  In  the 
river  flowing  by,  the  voyevode's  dog  Molda  was  drowned, 
hence  the  name  of  river  and  country,  ''  Moldova."  The 
voyevode,  finding  the  country  both  fair  and  fertile, 
settled  down  in  it  with  his  followers ;  the  head  of 
the  buffalo  remained  ever  after  on  the  escutcheon  of 
Moldavia. 

The  two  principalities  of  Valachia  and  Moldavia  have 
each  its  separate  history,  but  absolutely  similar  on  the 
whole.  The  whole  first  period  of  four  or  five  centuries  is 
full  of  wars,  and  successful  ones  too ;  it  is  their  heroic 
period :  wars  with  the  Hungarians  for  both  states  ;  with 
the  Poles  for  Moldavia ;  with  the  Turks,  for  Valachia 
first,  for  Moldavia  afterwards.  With  the  Bulgarian  and 
Servian  states  beyond  the  Danube,  their  relations  were 
of  the  best;  marriages  took  place  more  than  once 
between  the  ruling  families ;  the  whole  organisation  of 
the  State  was  borrowed  from  the  Bulgarians  by  the 
Valachs,  and  from  these  by  the  Moldavians;  old  Bul- 
garian, or  rather  Slavonian,  became  the  State  language, 
as  it  was  already  that  of  the  Church  ;  the  form  of  State 
documents  was  adopted  wholesale  from  the  Bulgarians, 
along  with  the  pro-title  "  lo  "  for  the  voyevodes  (from 
Ion,  lonitza,  the  Valacho-Bulgarian  Emperor),  thus 
getting  back  what  belonged  to  their  own  blood  through 
foreign  hands.  Of  all  the  wars,  those  with  the 
Turks  were  the  longest  of  all,  and  no  more  happy  in 
the  long  run. 

The  first  struggles  of  the  Valachians  with  the  Turks 
are,  for  the  first  period,  summed  up  in  the  names  of  two 
warlike  voyevodes — Mirtchea  the  Great,  the  conspicuous 
representative  of  the  cause  of  civilisation  and  Christen- 
dom in  the  East  against  the  all-invading  Turk ;  and  the 
cruel  but  able  ruler,  Vlad  the  Impaler. 

But  the  chief  cause  of  continuous  wars  in  the  princi- 
palities was  a  home  trouble,  namely,  the  succession  to  the 
throne,  which  was  not  handed  down  in  the  line  of  the 


INTKODUCTION  21 

first-born,  but  was  open  to  all  sons,  even  natural  sons 
and  brothers,  from  which  the  country  had  the  right  to 
choose  the  successor  of  the  deceased  monarch — by  right, 
the  eldest  of  them,  it  seems.  Hence  wars  between  the 
pretenders,  division  of  the  country  into  parties,  inter- 
ference of  foreigners,  called  in  by  one  or  the  other  of  the 
pretenders.  Moldavian  princes  admitted  more  than  once 
Polish  supremacy ;  Valachia  bent  its  neck  very  early 
under  Turkish  power,  becoming  at  first  tributary,  and 
then  actual  vassal,  after  Vlad  the  Impaler. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  wars,  the  people  seem  to  have 
.been  fairly  prosperous.  The  height  of  Moldavia's  splen- 
dour is  reached  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, under  the  reign  of  Stephen  the  Great,  '*  the  athlete 
of  Christ,"  as  the  Pope  called  him,  at  the  time  when  the 
whole  of  Christendom  was  shaking  with  fear  before  the 
all-conquering  Islam.  Stephen  the  Great,  the  much 
admired  monarch,  has  been  sung  in  many  a  popular 
ballad,  of  which  scraps  only  may  find  room  here : — 

"  Stephen,  Stephen,  the  great  lord, 
Has  no  equal  in  the  world 
Except  the  splendid  sun  I 
From  Sutcheava  when  he  rises 
He  sets  his  breast  to  the  frontiers 
Like  a  strong  defensive  wall. 
His  own  arm  incessantly 
Beats  the  Tartarian  hordes, 
Beats  the  Maghiaric  hosts, 
Beats  the  Poles  in  stormy  flight, 
Beats  Turks  astride  on  dragoons  * 


'  Stefan,  ^tefan,  domn  eel  mare 
Saman  pe  lume  nu  are 
Decit  numai  mandrul  scare  1 
Din  Suceava  cind  rasare 
Pune  pieptul  la  hotare 
Ca  un  zid  de  aparare. 
Bra^ul  lui  fara'  ncetare 
Bate  ordele  tatare, 
Bate  cetele  maghiare, 
Bate  Le^i  din  fuga  mare 
Bate  Turci  pe  zmei  calare 


22  INTRODUCTION 

And  saves  them  the  cost  of  burial. 
The  whole  world  is  in  amaze  : 
The  land  is  small,  the  land  is  strong, 
And  the  foe  cannot  progress  !  "  * 

Stephen  the  Great,  the  beloved  hero,  who  has  more 
than  one  claim  to  the  devotion  of  his  people,  the  majestic 
warrior,  is  supposed  to  have  had  falcons  for  his  sentries 
perched  on  heights  and  warning  him  of  the  approach  of 
the  enemy,  to  which  warning  he  replies  : — 

"  Let  them  come,  oh,  let  them  come 
And  give  themselves  a  prey  to  me! 
Death  grazes  them  like  a  flock, 
An  ill  fate  drives  them  from  behind. 
Many  have  come  to  us  in  times, 
Few,  however,  havie  returned  [home] ; 
For  I  am  a  four-handed  Eoumanian, 
And  have  cures  for  all  the  pagans  : 
For  Tartars  I  have  an  arrow, 
For  the  Turks  my  own  broad  sword; 
For  Lithuans  my  heavy  mace, 
For  Hungarians  a  lasso  I  "  f 

The  name  of  Stephen  the  Great  is  a  household  name  in 
every  Moldavian  cottage.  He  belonged  to  the  greatest 
Moldavian  dynasty,  the  Mushatini,  related,  it  is  said,  to 
the  Valachian  dynasty  of  the  Bassarabs ;  his  father,  his 
grandfather  (Alexander  the  Good),  and  his  great-grand- 
father had  all  reigned  in  Moldavia  ;  his  father  only  for  a 

*  ^i-i  scute^te  de'  ngropare. 
Lumea  'ntreaga  e'n  mirare: 
^ara-i  mica,  ^ara-i  tare 
^i  du^manul  spor  nu  are  I " 

f  "Las'  sa  vie,  las'  sa  vie 
Sa  se  deie  prada  miel 
Moartea-i  pa^te  ca  pe-o  turma 
Pacatu-i  mdna  din  urma. 
Mul^i  au  mai  venit  la  noi 
Pu'^ini  s'au  dus  inapoi 
Ca-s  Eom&n  cu  patru  mani 
^i  am  leacuri  de  pagani : 
De  Tatari  am  o  sageata, 
De  Turci  pala  mea  cea  lata ; 
De  Litveni  un  buzdugan 
^i  de  Unguri  un  arcan." 


Church  Built  by  Stephen  the  Great.  [Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


To  face  page  23. 


Oldest  Church  of  Stephen  the  Great.  \_Fhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


INTRODUCTION  23 

short  time,  being  overthrown  by  a  protege  of  the  Poles. 
It  was  not,  however,  by  inheritance  that  Stephen  got  his 
throne,  but  through  war,  supported  by  the  Valachian 
prince,  Vlad  the  Impaler.  This  involved  him  in  long  and 
recurrent  wars  with  the  Poles  and  the  Hungarians ; 
he  overcame  them.  Later  on,  however,  owing  to  the 
Turkish  wars,  he  accepted  for  a  short  time  the  suzerainty 
of  Poland,  the  greatest  European  Power  in  those  times  ! 

After  driving  out  his  opponent,  Stephen  took  posses- 
sion of  the  throne,  **  with  the  will  of  the  people,"  and 
ruled  the  country  for  half  a  century  (1457-1504),  always 
with  sword  in  hand,  a  pillar  of  his  country  against  its 
neighbours,  a  bulwark  of  Christianity  against  the  Turks, 
as  two  more  Roumanians  had  been  before  him,  in  this 
same  century — loan  Corvin  de  Huniade,  Regent  of  Hun- 
gary, and  Vlad  the  Impaler,  already  mentioned.  The 
innumerable  battles  won  by  Stephen  are  celebrated  in 
forty  churches  which  he  built  all  over  the  country,  many 
of  them  mere  ruins  to-day.  After  each  successful  battle, 
tradition  reports,  Stephen  was  wont  to  raise  a  church 
in  commemoration  of  it ;  one  of  the  most  important  of 
them  is  the  church — with  monastery — of  Putna,  in 
Bukovina,  which  became  the  necropolis  of  the  Moldavian 
monarchs. 

Stephen's  reign  was  the  climax  of  the  heroic  period  of 
Moldavia's  history.  After  him  downfall  followed  soon. 
The  situation  of  the  country  between  the  two  ill-disposed 
neighbours,  Poland  and  Hungary,  became  so  awkward 
that  Stephen's  son  Bogdan,  in  accordance  with  his 
father's  advice,  decided  to  seek  pagan  support  rather 
than  lean  any  longer  on  fickle  and  false  Polish  friendship, 
**  for  the  Turk  is  strong  and  wise,  and  keeps  his  word  " — 
such  seems  to  have  been  at  the  time  the  character  of  the 
powerful  Turk.  A  Moldavian  deputation  sent  to  Con- 
stantinople accepted  the  Turkish  suzerainty,  as  Valachia 
had  already  done  long  before.  The  first  capitulations 
of  Moldavia  with  the  Turks  were  as  fair  as  can  be : 
Moldavia  had  to  pay  a  yearly  peshJcesh  ("a  present")  of 
4,000  ducats,  and  give  besides  40  hawks,  40  Moldavian 
mares,  and  military  help  in  case  of  war.     The  Turks,  in 


24  INTRODUCTION 

return,  recognised  Moldavia  as  a  "  free  and  non-submitted 
country,"  and  promised  to  respect  her  religion  and  laws, 
never  to  settle  down  in  the  country,  nor  to  raise  Moslem 
places  of  worship.  Such  were  the  conditions  of  Moldavia's 
vassalage  in  the  year  1513.  But  they  were  not  to  be 
respected  long.  The  century  had  not  run  out  when  the 
Turks  were  already  meddling  with  the  nomination  of 
the  princes ;  they  increased  the  peshJcesh  which  took 
the  character  of  a  real  tribute,  haraci,  and  seized  the 
line  of  the  Dniester,  making  in  the  strongholds  of  Cetatea- 
Alba,  Bender,  Soroca,  Hotin,  their  centres  of  operations 
against  the  Poles,  and  afterwards  against  the  Kussians. 
This  tendency  of  the  Turks  ever  to  trespass  on  the  initial 
capitulations  turned  Roumanian  policy  in  time  towards 
Russian  alliances. 

Valachia  had  made  her  capitulations  with  the  Turks 
much  earlier.  After  the  death  of  Mircea  the  Great  (1418) 
the  country  fared  ill  under  the  long  struggles  for  the 
crown  among  his  descendants,  and  the  interference  of 
Hungary  on  one  side  and  Turkey  on  the  other.  After 
the  first  capitulations  with  the  light  peshkesh,  Valachia 
very  soon  fell  under  the  obligation  of  paying,  beside  the 
money  tribute,  a  blood  tribute  of  500  children  yearly, 
who  were  to  become  dreaded  lanitcheri  (Turkish  in- 
fantry) .  Vlad  the  Impaler  saved  the  country  from  this 
cruel  tribute  for  a  while,  but  unfortunately  was  overcome 
and  lost  his  throne ;  and  the  Turks  put  his  brother  Radu 
in  his  stead  on  the  Valachian  throne,  assuming  thus  the 
right  of  nominating  the  country's  voyevodes.  Thus, 
whilst  Moldavia  was  prospering  under  great  Stephen's 
rule,  Valachia  was  already  in  a  bad  state.  The  Turkish 
interference  in  her  affairs  became  heavier  and  heavier ; 
the  struggle  for  the  thrones  became  keener  than  ever; 
the  different  pretenders  got  into  the  habit  of  buying  the 
throne  with  money  from  the  Turks.  But  the  fate  of  the 
two  countries  was  not  long  to  be  different,  for,  soon  after 
Bogdan,  Moldavia  was  reduced  to  Valachia' s  condition. 

Nevertheless,  Turkish  authority,  if  willingly  accepted 
by  the  princes,  was  not  undisputed  throughout  these 
countries;   a  prince  nominated  by  the  Turks  had  often 


INTRODUCTION  25 

to  ascend  his  throne  only  after  a  hard  fight;  Turks, 
Tartars  from  Crimea,  Cossacks  from  beyond  the  Dniester, 
over  and  over  again  overran  the  countries,  bringing 
misfortune  and  desolation  on  the  poor  population.  These 
unspeakable  sufferings  of  the  people  made  them  deeply 
feel  what  a  great  mistake  it  is  to  allow  foreigners  to 
meddle  with  home  troubles: — 

"  Who  brings  armies  into  the  country, 
May  he  die  under  the  country's  curse  I "  * 

While  fate  was  thus  pressing  with  a  heavy  hand  on  the 
Roumanians  of  the  free — that  is,  once  free — principali- 
ties, the  "Western  Roumanians  were  not  happier  under 
Hungarian  rule.  After  the  conquest  of  Transylvania 
many  of  the  nobility  passed  over  to  the  conqueror,  and 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Roumanian  blood  gave 
Hungary  her  greatest  general,  loan  Corvin  de  Huniade, 
and  her  greatest  king,  Mathias  Corvin,  son  of  the  former, 
just  as  the  trans-Danubian  Roumanians  had  given  the 
Bulgarians  their  greatest  leader  and  monarch,  lonitza, 
two  centuries  before. 

Many  of  the  Roumanian  chiefs,  in  order  to  preserve 
their  wealth  and  their  privileges — or  to  obtain  some 
more — passed  over  to  the  conqueror,  accepted  his 
language  and  religion,  and  were  Magyarised ;  those  who 
resisted  had  to  emigrate  over  the  mountains  to  Valachia 
and  Moldavia,  as  already  seen.  But  the  great  bulk  of 
the  population — the  poor,  the  humble — have  neither 
emigrated  nor  given  up  their  nationality ;  they  remained, 
and  were  persecuted,  and  greatly  suffered,  but  they  stub- 
bornly stuck  to  creed  and  tongue.  And  when  suffering 
became  unbearable,  they  arose,  and  blood  was  not  spared ! 
A  first  rising  is  registered  in  1437,  in  which  the  victorious 
Roumanians  got  back  several  of  their  rights.  But  then 
came  in  the  close  union  of  the  three  foreign  nations, 
Hungarians,  Secklers,  and  Saxons,  against  the  perilous 
awakening  of  the  old  masters  of  the   land.     The  three 


*  "  Cine-aduce  oaste  'n  ^ara, 
Sub  blastamul  ^erei  pieara  I  " 


26  INTRODUCTION 

agreed  to  hold  fast  together,  in  order  to  keep  down  the 
one.  A  second  rising  took  place  in  1512 — a  rising  more 
social  than  political,  as,  side  by  side  with  the  Eoumanian, 
there  arose  the  Hungarian  peasant  also,  too  much  op- 
pressed by  his  own  nobleman ;  the  leader  of  the  rising, 
Dosza,  was  himself  a  Seckler.  The  result  was  put  down 
in  blood,  and  the  yoke  became  heavier  still.  A  third 
rising  was  to  come  in  connection  with  affairs  in  the  free 
principalities,  to  be  related  hereafter. 

The  brightest  moment  in  Eoumanian  history  was  in 
the  year  1600,  when  Michael  the  Brave — 

"He  is  Michael  the  hero 
Who  springs  on  seven  horses 
That  the  Sultan  cries:  0  woe!""'' 

voyevode  of  Valachia,  after  having  succeeded  in  over- 
throwing the  Turkish  yoke  and  raising  the  country  again 
to  the  situation  it  was  in  at  the  beginning  of  Mirtchea's 
reign,  conquered — by  events  too  long  to  unfold  here — 
Transylvania  and  the  Moldavia,  and  realised  thus  for  one 
moment — a  few  months  only — the  great  fact  which  up 
to  the  present  moment  has  remained  a  mere  dream  to 
Eoumanian  fancy — the  unity  of  the  whole  Eoumanian 
nation — north  of  the  Danube,  at  least.  The  stroke  was 
as  brilliant  as  it  was  short.  There  followed  Hungarian 
intrigues,  imperial  interests  (of  the  Habsbourg  Eudolph 
II.),  and  Polish  interference,  and  the  Eoumanian  hero 
fell,  consumed  like  a  bright  lightning  flash  by  its  own 
fire.  He  fell,  and  with  him  the  Eoumanian  dream  of 
unity  ended.  At  Michael's  approach  the  Eoumanians 
of  Transylvania  had  arisen,  hoping  much  from  one  so 
brave  and  of  their  own  blood!  But,  unfortunately, 
Michael  the  Brave  was  not  a  far-seeing  statesman,  or 
rather  he  made  the  mistake  of  believing  that  he  would 
master  Transylvania  much  more  easily  with  the  help  of 
Hungarian  nobility  than  with  Eoumanian  peasantry; 
but  the  nobility  would  not  have  him  and  the  peasants 

-!:  "  El  e  viteazul  Mihai 
Ce  sare  pe  §apte  cai 
De  striga  Sultanul  vai  t " 


INTKODUCTION  27 

he  had  helped  to  overcome.  His  great  national  accom- 
plishment went  to  pieces,  and  brothers  once  more  were 
severed.  If  the  hero's  praises  were  sung  by  his  own 
people  at  home,  nothing  of  it  has  been  collected  yet,  or 
hardly  anything.  The  Moldavian  peasant,  however, 
could  not  help  pouring  out  his  admiration  for  the  hero 
who  had  saved  his  people  from  the  Turkish  yoke : — 

"Have  you  heard  of  an  Oltean, 
An  Oltean,  a  Craiovean 
Who  does  not  fear  the  Sultan?" 

And  so  in  eight  laudatory  strophes  he  sings  his  praises, 
ending  with  the  yearning  appeal : — 

"Oh,  oh,  oh,  Michael,  Michael, 
Why  do  you  not  feel  with  us,  too, 
And  save  us  from  trouble  and  woe  1  "  * 

Another  song  concerning  Michael  the  Brave  has  been 
traced  in  Macedonia,  but  as  it  is  in  Greek  it  may  not  be 
of  popular  origin.  The  memory  of  the  conquest  of 
Transylvania  has  been  preserved  in  a  song  which  seems 
to  have  been  composed  in  the  reign  of  one  of  Michael's 
successors,  Kadu  Sharban  Bassarab.  In  a  long  ballad, 
referring  to  a  battle  of  this  prince's,  and  complaining 
of  the  people's  sufferings,  he  is  invited  to  reconquer 
Transylvania : — 

"Woe,  oh  woe!  your  greatness. 
What  a  doom  is  on  my  country  1 
The  Hungarians  torment  us,f 


'Auzit-a^i  de-un  Oltean, 
De-un  Oltean,  de-un  Craiovean 
Ce  nu-i  pasa  de  Sultan? 

Aleleil  Mihai,  Mihai, 

Caci  de  noi  mila  nu  ai 

Sa  ne  scapi  de-amar  ^i  vai  1 " 

f  "Oleo-leo,  Maria-Ta 
Ce  potop  in  ^ara  meal 
Ungurii  ne  nacajesc, 


28  INTRODUCTION 

The  Turks  raid  our  cattle, 
The  Tartars  plunder  us: 
Woe  on  the  Koumanian  nation ! 
Green  leaf  of  gilly-flower 
Come,  0  Lord,  your  grandeur, 
I  know  a  hidden  dell, 
Through  the  rock's  narrow  vale, 
Where  no  bird  shall  see  us: 
I  lead  you  into  my  land 
Come,  0  lord,  to  master  it 
From  the  pagans  to  rid  it."* 

After  the  extinction  of  the  two  reigning  dynasties  the 
"  Bassarabi "  in  Valachia,  the  "  Mushatini "  in  Moldavia, 
things  went  on  from  bad  to  worse  with  the  struggles  for 
the  thrones.  Competition  became  keener  than  ever,  and 
auction  the  regular  system  of  nomination  of  the  voyevodes 
to  the  thrones.  Any  one  now  could  compete  for  the 
Roumanian  throne,  provided  he  could  afford  to  spend 
the  sums  of  money  required.  Besides  the  tribute,  a 
great  and  variable  price  for  the  throne,  and  no  end  of 
bribes  to  viziers  and  other  officials  of  the  Porte,  no  other 
qualification  whatever  was  of  avail,  not  even  the  actual 
possession  of  the  money,  for  Constantinople  was  swarming 
with  usurers,  mostly  Greeks,  with  ever  ready  purse  for 
needy  borrowers  and  high  percentages.  Foreigners,  and 
especially  Greeks,  began  now  to  buy  the  Roumanian 
thrones.  These  monarchs,  well  aware  that  their  good 
time  could  only  be  of  short  duration,  as  the  Turks  were 
not  a  bit  averse  from  changing  them  every  other  year,  as 
a  rule,  brought  with  them  usurers  into  the  countries, 
that  they  might    gather    their  own    money  from    the 

*  Turcii  vitele  rapesc, 
Tatarii  ne  jafuesc : 
Vai  de  neamul  romanesc  I 
Frunza  verde  mic^unea, 
Hai,  doamne,  Maria-ta, 
^tiu  ascunsa  cararea 
Printre  stanci  stramta  valcea, 
Sa  nu  simta  paserea : 
Te  tulesc  In  ^ara  mea 
Hai,  doamne,  s'o  stapane^ti 
De  pagani  s'o  isbave§ti." 


INTRODUCTION  29 

Roumanian  taxpayers.  The  taxation,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  regulated  by  the  monarch's  own  will;  the  people, 
always  overtaxed,  became  poorer  and  poorer,  bending 
their  heads  lower  and  lower  under  the  yoke  of  tyranny. 
Besides,  the  monarchs,  who  wished  to  save  as  much 
money  as  possible  for  the  impending  hard  times,  tried 
to  keep  for  themselves  all  the  income  raised  by  taxation, 
and  to  pay  off  their  creditors  by  some  other  means ;  these 
they  found  in  presenting  the  creditors  with  lands  and 
of&ces,  and  thus  the  noble  class  began  to  be  filled  vdth 
the  foreign  and  Greek  element.  This,  together  with  the 
constantly  recurring  plunders  of  the  countries  at  the  hand 
of  Turkish  armies,  sent  ever  to  support  this  or  that  newly 
nominated  monarch,  caused  naturally  great  discontent, 
which  was  more  than  once  utilised  by  the  nobles,  the 
ho'iars,  to  raise  revolts  against  the  Greeks,  who  were 
sometimes  driven  out  of  the  country,  to  come  back  again 
with  a  vengeance !  One  of  these  risings  brought  to  the 
thrones  of  both  principalities  Roumanian  rulers,  Mate! 
Bassarab,  in  Valachia,  and  Vasile  Lupu,  in  Moldavia 
(1633  and  1634  respectively),  who  reigned  for  a  period 
of  about  twenty  years,  a  wonderful  term  for  those  times  ! 
Unfortunately  their  reign  was  marked  by  frequent  wars 
with  each  other,  by  which  the  good  results  of  their  rule 
all  went  to  waste.  The  most  important  of  these  results 
was  the  suppression  of  the  antiquated  Slavonic  language 
in  Church  and  State,  and  its  substitution  by  the  Rouma- 
nian language;  but  of  that  more  by  and  by.  With  all 
that,  the  Greek  element  went  on  grovdng — to  such  an 
extent,  indeed,  that,  soon  after  the  turning  out  of  the 
Slavonic  language  from  Church  and  State,  and  almost 
before  the  Roumanian  language  had  put  in  an  appear- 
ance, it  was  itself  again  put  aside  and  replaced  by  the 
Greek  language,  in  Church  at  least,  and,  what  was 
worse,  in  society  also,  being  the  language  of  the  Court 
and  of  the  nobility  at  large ;  but  the  people  never 
adopted  it. 

With  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Greek  in- 
fluence had  set  in  quite  comfortably  in  both  principalities. 
Having  entered  through  commerce  first,  through  religion 


30  INTRODUCTION 

afterwards,  through  money  and  politics  later  on,  the 
Greeks  were  soon  swarming  in  the  countries,  in  the  shape 
of  noblemen  and  high  officials,  of  creditors  of  the 
monarchs,  of  speculators  of  all  sorts,  all  sucking  like 
famished  leeches  the  wealth  of  the  countries.  Even 
before  the  eighteenth  century — the  century  of  the  Phan- 
ariotes — many  a  prince  was  a  Greek,  and  surrounded  by 
Greeks.  The  poor  Roumanian  peasant  knew  them  only 
too  well :  at  the  time  of  Mat  el  Bassarb  he  was  already 
wont  to  sing — 

"The  Greek  is  a  filthy  otter 
He  is  an  envenomed  beast,"* 

and  would  gladly  get  rid  of  the  Greek  ruler  : 

"  For  many  a  brave  with  us 
Would  much  rather  meet  his  death 
Then  be  ruled  by  a  Greek  prince."  f 

But  he  could  not  get  his  desire ;  on  the  contrary,  with 
the  eighteenth  century  Greek  rule  became  decisively 
established.  The  Porte  gave  the  thrones  chiefly  to 
Greeks  from  the  Phanar,  a  suburb  of  Constantinople, 
whence  the  name  of  Phanariotes.  This  epoch  of  Phan- 
ariotic  rule  lasted  more  than  one  century.  It  is,  with 
small  exception,  a  black  page  in  Roumanian  history  ;  the 
Turk  was  now  the  absolute  master  who  ruled  from  afar 
through  these  princes,  who,  although  not  wearing  the 
title  of  pashas,  were,  in  fact,  hardly  anything  better.  Thus 
the  Roumanians,  north  of  the  Danube,  were  once  more 
bound  under  an  equal  fate  almost  with  their  remote 
brothers  south  of  the  river,  these  latter  ruled  by  real 
pashas.  The  condition  of  the  people  was  so  miserable 
from  the  very  beginning  that  the  Phanariotes  themselves, 
in  their  pressing  need  of  a  taxpaying  population  that  had 


*  "Grecul  e  vidra  spurcata, 
Este  fieara'  nveninata." 

f  "  Ca  sint  mul^i  voinici  la  noi 
Ce  doresc  moartea  mai  bine 
Decit  Domn  Grec  sa  le  fie," 


INTRODUCTION  31 

almost  disappeared,  found  it  necessary  to  make  reforms 
in  favour  of  the  peasants,  which  reforms,  however,  came 
to  nothing,  on  account  of  the  ill-will  of  the  ruhng  classes. 
This  was  a  period  of  emigration :  beyond  the  Danube, 
where  many  villages  of  Koumanian  settlers  are  seen  to 
the  present  day ;  beyond  the  Dniester,  where  many  a 
brave  Eoumanian  could  find  military  employment  in 
Polish  and  Kussian  armies,  and  where  many  settlers  are 
also  found  to-day.  Those  who  remained  at  home  had  a 
hard  time  of  it.  When  patience  was  at  an  end,  many 
took  to  the  forests,  and  under  the  name  of  heydoicks 
("outlaws  ")  took  revenge  on  the  nation's  oppressors. 

In  this  same  eighteenth  century  Transylvania  rang 
once  more  with  a  mighty  rising  of  the  Roumanians  ;  the 
revolution  of  Neculai  TJrsu  Horia  drenched  Transylvania 
in  blood  and  fire  from  end  to  end.  The  leader  met  with  a 
tragic  end  on  "  the  wheel,"  but  the  result  was  nevertheless 
the  suppression  of  serfdom  in  Transylvania. 

In  the  two  principalities  the  social  and  economic  evils 
of  the  people  were  doubled  by  political  misfortunes  ;  this 
phanariotic  epoch  saw  Moldavia  amputated  of  two  of  her 
fairest  and  most  fertile  provinces,  Bukovina  and  Bassa- 
rabia.  Austria,  ill  satisfied  with  her  first  share  of  Poland, 
demanded  and  obtained  from  the  Turks  the  Bukovina 
(1775)  with  Sutcheava,  the  old  capital  of  Moldavia,  and 
the  monastery  of  Putna,  with  her  rulers'  tombs.  And, 
says  a  legend,  one  night  the  great  bell  of  the  monastery, 
the  Buga,  began  to,  toll  by  itself,  louder  and  ever  louder, 
until  the  monks,  awakened  and  in  great  terror,  perceived 
the  church  lighted  up  with  a  strange,  unearthly  light. 
They  rushed  in,  but  at  the  opening  of  the  door  the  bell 
stood  still,  and  intense  darkness  set  in ;  the  oil-lamps  on 
the  tomb  of  great  Stephen  went  out,  although  full  of 
oil,  and  next  day  the  portrait  of  the  great  monarch 
hanging  in  the  church  was  found  perfectly  dark  and 
discoloured.  The  shade  of  the  great  monarch  was  in 
mourning  over  his  nation's  loss!  In  less  than  half  a 
century  after,  Russia  took  the  Bassarabia  (1812),  the 
whole  region  between  Prut  and  Dniester,  the  Prut  be- 
coming henceforth  what  the  Dniester  had  been  up  to  now, 


32  INTRODUCTION 

the  *'  accursed  river,"  across  which  all  evils  used  to  come. 
The  Koumanian  thus  cut  off  finds  himself  a  stranger  on 
the  soil  where  he  was  born ;  he  cannot  forget  his  ties  with 
the  rest  of  Moldavia ;  he  curses  the  enemy  who  has 
given  him  over  to  the  Russian ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Moldavian  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Prut  will  deeply 
deplore  the  loss  of  the  province,  and  thus  they  both 
sing  :— 

"Green  leaf  of  dry  apple, 

May  curses  fall  upon  the  kin, 

And  the  house  be  ever  deserted, 

And  the  children  put  in  prison, 

Of  him  who  made  the  Russian 

Master  beyond  the  Prut."* 

And  from  the  other  bank  a  sympathetic  voice  joins  in 
complaint  and  curse  : — 

"  Green  leaf  of  twisted  blade 
May  the  Eussian  be  accursed, 
For  ever  since  he  has  come 
Upon  us,  and  has  mastered  us, 
Our  house  seems  to  be  no  house. 
Our  table  seems  to  be  no  table, 
The  weather  is  upside  down, 
And  the  earth  is  full  of  anger  I 
Green  leaf  of  little  withe 
The  Prut  cries  itself  to  death, f 


'Frunza  verde  mar  uscat 
Fi  i-ar  neamul  blastamat 
Fi  i-ar  casa  tot  pustie 
§i  copii'  in  puscarie 
Cine  pe  Rus  I'a  facut 
Stapan  dincolo  de  Prut." 

'  Foaie  verde  fir  sucit 
Fire-ar  Rusu-afurisit, 
Ca  de  cind  el  a  venit 
Peste  noi  ^i  ne-a  robit 
Casa  par'  ca  nu  ni-i  casa 
Masa  par'  ca  nu  ni-i  masa 
Vremea  par'  ca-i  tot  pe  dos 
§i  pamantul  manios  1 
Foaie  verde  lozioara 
Prutul  plange  se  omoara 


INTRODUCTION  33 

And  we  all  join  in  a  crowd, 

For  henceforth  who  of  us  can  say 

Whenever  he  shall  be  free  ?  "  * 

The  great  losses  told  heavily  on  the  Roumanian  heart ; 
his  Christian  brothers  abroad  have  spoliated  him  as  much 
as  they  could ;  his  Christian  brothers  at  home  oppress 
him  beyond  bearing ;  the  Turk,  the  supreme  ruler,  is 
accounted  the  original  cause  of  all  these  evils,  he  v^ants 
to  destroy  it ;  and  so  it  is  that  in  all  the  Russo-Turkish 
wars,  the  Russian  armies  were  filled  with  Roumanian 
volunteers,  who  joined  in  a  fight  against  the  common 
pagan  enemy. 

In  1821  the  Greek  revolution  against  the  Turks 
awakened  the  Roumanians  to  a  revolution  against  their 
own  oppressor,  the  Greek.  With  Tudor  Vladimirescu 
the  Roumanian  peasant  leaves  for  a  moment  "  the  horns 
of  the  plough."  He  began  by  taking  a  bloody  revenge 
on  his  oppressor  at  home,  the  boiar,  Greek  or  Roumanian; 
he  spent  his  last  penny  on  a  rifle,  and  under  Tudor's 
leadership  went  to  free  the  country  from  the  phanariotes ; 
he  was  quite  ready  for  self-sacrifice,  and  his  weeping  wife 
he  soothed  with  the  words  : — 

"  Cry  no  more,  my  dearest  Mary, 
Take  care  of  John  and  of  the  cottage 
And  of  the  poor  little  girls, 
For  hard  days  are  upon  us. 
Do  not  cry  over  my  death. 
For  evil  fate  is  on  the  land. 
Look,  we  are  starting  to  plough,! 


*  §i  cu  noi  to|ii  gramagioara 
Ca  de-acu  cine  mai  §tie 
Slobod  cind  are  sa  fie  1 " 

f  "  Nu  mai  plange  Mariu^a 
Vezi  de  Ion  §i  de  casu^a 
^i  de  bietele  copile 
Cam  ajuns  in  rele  zile, 
Sa  nu  plange^i  moartea  mea 
Ca-i  pe  |iara  piaza  rea. 
Uite  mergem  sa  aram 
4 


34  INTRODUCTION 

To  cut  across  the  fallow, 
And  then  we  are  going  to  sow. 
You  will  then  come  after  us 
And  harvest  a  hundredfold. 
Do  not  weep,  do  not  be  sorry : 
The  Lord  Tudor  is  with  us. 
May  God  also  be  with  you!  "* 

And  sow  they  did,  their  own  blood  and  bones,  for  the 
next  generations  to  reap  the  benefit.  The  sufferings  of 
the  people  at  the  hands  of  Turks  and  Greeks,  who 
plundered  and  set  the  countries  afire  from  end  to  end, 
were  beyond  description.  People  of  all  classes  ran  away 
to  the  mountains  and  the  woods,  as  they  were  wont  to  do 
of  old,  at  the  time  of  previous  invasions.  This  epoch  has 
remained  in  people's  memory  like  a  dreadful  nightmare, 
and  has  been  called  the  bejania;  this  was  a  time  when 
the  ox-carts  were  provided  with  two  poles,  one  in  front, 
the  other  behind ;  if  the  fugitives  in  their  flight  met  with 
danger  ahead,  there  was  no  time  to  waste  on  turning  the 
cart  round,  especially  as  the  roads  were  narrow,  so  they 
quickly  unyoked  the  oxen  and  put  them  at  the  other  end, 
and  back  they  drove  in  another  direction  as  fast  as  they 
could.  The  sacrifice  of  life  and  wealth  was  enormous, 
but  the  prize  was  at  hand  :  the  sun  of  1822  shed  its 
brilliant  beams  on  Roumanian  thrones  with  Roumanian 
monarchs  ;  Greek  rule  was  done  away  with,  as  well  as  the 
Greek  language  vanished  at  once  as  by  miracle.  And 
what  of  the  Greeks?  They  all  were  found  to  have 
turned  out  Roumanians !  The  fact  is,  the  Greeks  had 
for  more  than  a  century  contrived  to  Grecise  the 
Roumanians,  but  now  instead  of  that  they  were 
themselves  Roumanised. 

During  these  fateful  years  of   1821-1822,  whilst  the 


*  ^elina  s'o  despicam 
Ca  avem  sa  samanam. 
Voi  ave^i  sa  ne  urma^i 
^i  'nsutit  sa  secera^i 
Nu  plange^i,  nu  va  'ntrista^^i 
Domnul  Tudor  e  cu  noi 
Dumnezeu  fie  cu  voi." 


INTRODUCTION  35 

Northern  Roumanians  fought  to  get  rid  of  the  Greek 
rule,  the  Valachians  of  the  Pindus  took  arms,  and  fought 
side  by  side  with  the  Greeks  against  the  Turks ;  they 
fought  for  Greek  independence.  Many  of  the  captains, 
even  of  the  greatest  ones,  Hke  Botzaris,  Colocotroni,  were 
nothing  but  Grecised  Roumanians.  The  Greeks  won  their 
hberty,  but  the  Valachians  lost  more  than  they  won  in 
their  situation  between  both  Turks  and  Greeks. 

The  year  1848,  the  next  era  of  revolutions,  found  a 
ready  help  in  the  Roumanian  people,  in  striking  blows  for 
liberty,  both  in  Transylvania  and  in  the  principalities. 
In  Transylvania  they  fought  against  the  Hungarians  in 
bloody  fights,  where  women  fought  side  by  side  with  the 
men ;  and  advantages  were  secured  when  the  Hungarians 
were  beaten,  but  were  lost  afterwards,  through  the 
weakening  of  Austria  in  1866.  In  the  principalities  the 
Roumanians  arose  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  the  Russian 
protectorate,  even  heavier  than  Turkish  suzerainty,  which 
had  already  been  laid  on  both  principalities  since  1774. 
The  protectorate  was,  however,  removed  only  in  1856  by 
the  treaty  of  Paris,  when  also  a  slice  only  of  Bassarabia 
was  restored  to  Moldavia — to  be  taken  back  again  in 
1878. 

In  1859  the  Union  of  Moldavia  and  Valachia  was 
effected  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  all,  well  aware  that 
they  were  absolutely  the  same  people,  and  that  their 
most  natural  status  was  in  unity  not  in  a  division :  the 
Milcov  was  "  drunk  out  in  a  breath,"  the  little  boundary 
was  swept  away  for  ever,  and  the  brothers  united,  quite 
conscious  by  this  time  that — 

"Where  there  is  one,  there  is  no  strength, 
In  trouble  as  well  as  in  woe  ; 
Where  there  are  two  there  grows  the  strength, 
And  the  foes  does  not  progress."  * 


'  Unde-i  unul,  nu-i  putere 
La  nacaz  ^i  la  durere ; 
Unde-s  doi,  puterea  create 
^i  du^manul  nu  spore^te." 


86  INTRODUCTION 

The  Roumanians  united  by  the  simple  election  of  the 
same  prince,  the  Moldavian  boiar,  Alexander  Joan  Cuza ; 
all  the  rest  came  by  itself.  Cuza's  successor  was  Charles  I. 
of  Hohenzollern,  who  has,  since  the  last  war,  won  for 
himself  the  title  of  king.  In  this  war  the  Roumanians, 
as  allies  of  the  Russians,  fought  bravely  against  the 
Turks,  and  won  the  independence  of  the  country.  But 
in  return  the  Roumanians  were  obliged  to  make  a  sore 
sacrifice :  the  Russian  allies  deprived  them  once  more 
of  that  last  part  of  Bassarabia,  restored  in  1856,  giving  in 
return  the  rather  inferior  compensation  of  Dobrogia — 
also  lost  by  the  Roumanians  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
One  more  lesson  for  the  Roumanian  people  to  learn, 
which,  indeed,  had  been  long  known  and  expressed  in  the 
proverb  :  "  Guard  me,  0  God,  against  my  friends,  for 
against  my  foes  I  can  guard  myself." 


"Komanul  nu  piere." 
("The  Eoumanian  never  dies.") 

The  Roumanians,  then,  the  descendants  of  Roman 
colonists  and  Romanised  Dacians,  after  a  comparatively 
short  babyhood  rocked  under  the  careful  eye  of  Mother 
Rome  on  the  Carpathian  heights,  were  thrown  away  into 
the  stormiest  childhood,  in  which  the  only  problem  was 
not  "how  to  live,"  but  "how  not  to  die."  A  solution 
of  the  problem  has  been  offered  by  the  mountains,  both 
north  and  south  of  the  Danube.  From  Carpathian  to 
Pindus  it  is  on  the  heights  that  the  Roumanian  nation 
has  found  a  shelter  for  its  long  and  helpless  childhood ; 
these  heights,  these  mountains,  have  moulded  into  their 
final  shape  the  Roumanian  body  and  soul.  Narrow  and 
unfertile  region,  the  Pindus  has  reared  poorer  children, 
less  fit  for  the  struggle  of  life;  large  and  generous,  the 
Carpathian  has  been  a  faithful  and  devoted  cradle,  and  is 
to  the  present  day  the  stronghold  of  Roumanism.  Of  the 
ten  or  eleven  millions  of  Roumanians  living  at  present 


INTRODUCTION  37 

north  of  the  Danube,  in  a  compact  mass  over  the 
Carpathian  region,  three  millions  are  still  striving  on 
its  heights,  in  the  very  plateau  of  Transylvania  and  on  the 
western  slopes,  half-way  down  to  the  Tissa,  in  the  pro- 
vinces of  Maramuresh,  Crishiana,  Temishiana,  and  Banat, 
and  the  northern  province  of  Bukovina,  under  Austro- 
Hungarian  rule,  thriving  and  prospering  with  all  that, 
for,  as  can  be  gathered  from  the  official  statistics,  this 
Eoumanian  population  is  ever  on  the  increase,  with  all 
the  violent  tendency  of  the  Hungarians  to  Magyarise 
everything  and  everybody  around.  The  Carpathians  are 
the  abundant  spring  of  Koumanism ;  in  proportion  as  it 
fills,  its  waves  run  over  the  border  and  flow  towards  the 
plains.  As  you  walk  along  the  eastern  and  southern 
Carpathians,  inside  the  Free-Koumania  boundary,  ever 
and  anon  you  come  on  double-villages,  bearing  the  same 
name,  but  with  the  prefixes  of  either  pdminteni  (that  is 
to  say,  ''local "),  or  of  ungureni  (which  means  "  coming 
from  Hungary")  respectively.  And,  when  asking  for 
explanation,  you  are  told  that  both  kind  of  dwellers  are 
Eoumanians,  only  the  former  have  always  been  there, 
whilst  the  latter  have  come  at  a  more  recent  date  from 
"beyond  the  mountains"  and  settled  down,  and  that  is 
why  they  are  designated  by  the  distinctive  denomination 
of  "ungureni."  And  all  the  summer,  too,  you  come 
across  crowds  of  Carpathian  dwellers,  be  it  in  Tran- 
sylvania or  Bukovina,  swarming  about  the  plains  in  quest 
of  work.  And  they  get  it,  too,  for  Free  Koumania  is  as 
yet  rather  thinly  populated  with  her  5,406,000  inhabitants 
on  a  surface  of  131,020  sq.  km. 

The  Carpathians  have  sent  out  shoots  of  the  Eoumanian 
trunk  as  far  west  as  Moravia  and  Istria ;  only  here  they 
have  experienced  a  hard  time  under  the  Slav  blast.  The 
150,000  Yalachians,  said  to  be  living  in  Moravia,  have 
been  entirely  Slavisised;  they  have  forgotten  their 
mother-tongue,  excepting  the  few  Eoumanian  words 
they  have  preserved  in  their  newly-learnt  language ; 
they  have  forgotten  their  nationality,  except  the  name 
of  the  soil  they  are  treading  on,  called  still  VlashJca 
(Germ.  Wallachei) ;  and  their  own  appellation  of  Vlahi, 


38  INTRODUCTION 

but  for  many  customs  and  usages  identical  with  those 
of  the  Boumanians,  and  which  make  them  a  distinct 
population  from  those  surrounding  them,  recognised  as 
such  by  even  Slav  and  German  writers,  who  have  paid 
them  some  attention.  In  Istria  there  is  a  still  larger 
number  of  Roumanians  settled  down,  especially  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  peninsula,  on  the  slopes  of  Monte 
Maggiore.  These  also  have  been  Slavicised,  leaving  still 
some  5,000  Roumanians,  who  can  speak  the  language, 
tainted  with  the  strong  peculiarity  of  rotacism  ;  they  also 
call  themselves  Bumeri,  whilst  the  strangers  call  them 
Vlachi.  Even  those  who  speak  no  longer  Roumanian 
have  preserved  many  of  the  Roumanian  habits  and 
national  customs.  But  Roumanism  is  dying  out  fast 
there,  too,  under  strong  pressure  of  Slav  influence ;  and 
they  are  fatally  marked  for  death,  being,  like  the  Vlachi 
of  Moravia,  so  far  away  from  the  main  trunk,  and  kept 
apart  by  such  a  wide  sea  of  diverse  populations :  all  the 
omnium  gatherum  of  peoples  and  races  known  under 
the  name  of  the  Austrian  Empire. 

In  Transylvania  proper  the  Roumanians  are  not  alone 
masters,  but  the  other  nations  are  in  inferior  numbers, 
whilst  the  Roumanians  make  up  60  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  population,  the  Magyars  (Hungarians  and  Secklers 
together)  make  up  only  27  per  cent.,  and  the  Saxons 
10  per  cent.,  other  minor  races  making  up  the  remaining 
3  per  cent.  In  this  respect  Bukovina  stands  at  a  dis- 
advantage, for,  whilst  she  at  the  time  of  the  conquest 
was  populated  with  a  large  Roumanian  population,  with 
an  unquestionable  and  absolute  majority,  this  Roumanian 
population  enjoys  to-day  but  a  relative  majority ;  of  the 
650,297  inhabitants  only  35  per  cent,  are  Roumanians, 
30  per  cent,  are  Ruthenians  (Slavs),  all  the  rest  being 
Germans,  Jews,  Hungarians,  &c.  Since  1849  Bukovina 
forms  an  autonomous  province  with  a  ducal  title ;  before 
that  date  it  was  united  to  Galicia,  and  this  brought  in 
the  powerful  Slav  element,  which  puts  under  danger  of 
Slavicisation  the  Roumanians  and  all  the  rest. 

Beyond  the  Prut,  in  Bassarabia,  the  country  between 
the  Prut  and  the  Dniester,   out    of    a    population    of 


INTRODUCTION  39 

1,641,559  inhabitants,  66  per  cent. — that  is  1,089,999, 
according  to  Russian  statistics — are  Roumanians.  Of 
pure  Russians  there  are  only  34,437,  but  there  are  other 
Slavs,  chiefly  Ruthenians,  to  the  number  of  over  330,000, 
all  the  rest  being  composed  of  various  foreign  settlers — 
Bulgarians,  Germans,  Armenians,  Greeks,  Jews,  &c. 
And  there  are  also  Roumanians  beyond  the  Dniester,  in 
the  province  of  Kerson,  leading  their  own  life  in  their 
own  villages,  and  still  speaking  their  mother-tongue;  there 
are  also  Roumanian  colonies  as  far  afield  as  the  Caucasus, 
still  speaking  their  own  language  and  keeping  to  the 
national  usages  and  customs ;  all  these  Roumanians  offer 
a  stubborn  resistance  to  the  pressing  current  of  Russian 
influence. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Carpathians  from  top  to 
bottom  are  Roumanian  mountains ;  from  the  crown  of 
the  highest  peaks  down  to  the  wide-stretched  lap  by 
the  side  of  the  Dniester,  Danube,  Tissa,  a  solid  com- 
pact population  of  over  ten  millions  of  Roumanians  is 
striving  to  hold  its  own  among  ever-encroaching  neigh- 
bours, and  smaller  populations  run  between.  Of  these, 
the  Hungarians  are  the  most  numerous  by  far,  being 
some  six  and  a  half  millions,  but  their  own  abode 
is  in  the  vast  Hungarian  Pusta  on  both  banks  of  the 
Tissa. 

Beyond  the  Danube,  what  remains  of  the  Roumanian 
nation  can  be  called  nothing  more  than  splinters  strewn 
about  the  variegated  mosaic  of  nationalities  making  up 
the  map  of  the  Balkan  peninsula.  First  of  all,  there  are 
the  Roumanian  colonists  settled  down  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Danube ;  in  Bulgaria  some  47,000,  half  of  which 
are  settled  together  in  thirty-six  villages  by  the  mouths 
of  the  Timok,  the  rest  scattered  about  in  four  groups 
along  the  Danube ;  in  Servia  a  much  larger  number  of 
Roumanian  settlers  have  been  counted,  over  150,000,  of 
whom,  however,  a  small  percentage  only  are  settled ;  the 
others  lead  a  nomadic  pastoral  life  in  the  mountains. 
All  these  Roumanians  of  both  Bulgaria  and  Servia  are 
settlers  of  comparatively  recent  date,  not  older  than  the 
eighteenth  century ;  they  belong  to  the  northern  section 


40  INTRODUCTION 

of  the  Roumanian  nation,  and    speak  the  very  same 
Roumanian  dialect. 

Besides,  there  is  a  much  larger  number  of  Roumanians, 
spread  lower  down,  in  the  Pindic  region,  those  cut  off 
from  the  common  body  in  the  third  century  at  the 
time  of  the  Emperor  Aurelianus ;  these  call  themselves 
Aromd7ii  or  Armdni,  and  are  called  by  their  foreign 
neighbours  Zinzari  and  Cutzovlachiy  and  various  other 
local  appellations.  These  Armdni y  or  Pindic  Vlachi,  speak 
a  Roumanian  dialect  at  great  variance  with  the  North 
Roumanian.  Of  these  Pindic  Valachs,  a  smaller  number, 
comparatively,  are  attached  to  the  land,  and  are  con- 
sequently easier  to  get  at ;  but  by  far  the  greatest  number 
are  nomads,  roaming  about  like  foam  on  the  billows  of 
foreign  nations,  and  consequently  are  difficult  to  number. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  at  present  an  exact  return  of  the 
Roumanians  of  the  Pindus ;  some  admit  the  number  of 
500,000,  others  a  smaller  number ;  others,  again,  go  so  far 
as  to  admit  1,000,000  of  Valachians  in  the  Pindus,  and 
others  even  more.  The  exact  truth  seems  to  be  beyond 
reach  as  yet.  At  all  events,  it  is  certain  that  they  were 
once  much  more  numerous,  but  that  they  have  been 
Grecised  all  through  the  centuries  with  great  assiduity  and 
often  with  violence.  Church  and  school  being  active  agents. 
The  identity  of  creed  has  brought  about  the  Grecisation  of 
the  adults ;  as  for  the  children,  the  Greeks  have  founded 
more  schools  for  the  education  of  the  Armani  than  they 
have  for  their  own  children  at  home.  In  the  last  twenty 
years  Roumanian  schools  have  been  founded,  but  their 
progress  has  been  gravely  checked  by  Greek  interference, 
often  violent.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  Slav 
influence  as  well,  working  on  the  Roumanian  develop- 
ment, very  violent  just  now,  when  its  representatives,  the 
Bulgarians,  have  taken  to  their  knives  to  support  their 
national  ardour.  Between  these  two  pressing  influences, 
what  can  Roumanism  do?  If  those  mountains  presented 
wider  pastures  for  their  flocks;  if  a  unity  of  a  fair, 
impartial  Government  secured  them  a  fair  chance  of 
doing  their  best,  we  may  well  assume  that  the  Armani 
would  still  live  and  multiply  and  prosper.     But  cut  into 


INTRODUCTION  41 

pieces  as  the  peninsula  is  now,  the  Armin  shepherd  sees 
with  despair  the  frontiers  growing  under  his  feet,  and  the 
taxes  multiplying  in  front  of  his  herds,  and  it  no  longer 
pays  to  rear  sheep  with  all  the  taxes  he  has  to  pay  in 
order  to  get  them  from  one  pasture  to  another ;  and  thus 
he  sees  himself  obliged  to  give  up  pastoral  life  which  he 
loves,  to  settle  down  in  the  plain  and  till  the  land  which 
is  not  his,  and  which  he  does  not  like.  The  Arman, 
therefore,  rather  keeps  still  to  nomadic  life,  as  an  ambulant 
trader  or  worker,  wandering  all  over  the  country  place 
for  a  scanty  living,  but,  when  he  can,  returning  back  to 
his  family  left  at  home  in  the  mountain  villages.  If  only 
they  were  crowded  all  together,  these  much-tried  off- 
springs of  old  Eome !  But  they  are  scattered  about  in 
Macedonia,  Albania,  Epirus,  Thessaly,  Acarnany,  and 
Etholy,  divided  under  Turkish  and  Greek  dominion.  In 
Macedonia  the  Armani  are  more  united  in  the  western 
mountains  region  ;  a  compact  mass  also  is  to  be  met  with 
in  middle  Albania,  but  most  of  the  Armglni  are  found  in 
the  region  between  Epirus  and  Thessaly,  on  the  highest 
summits  of  the  Pindus  and  on  the  southern  slopes  half- 
way down  the  river  Aspropotamos ;  at  the  feet  of  the 
Olympus  and  Ossa  there  are  also  Armin  villages,  and 
sporadically  they  are  scattered  all  over  Beotia,  with  a 
rather  more  compact  group  in  Acarnania  and  Etholy,  not 
far  from  the  famous  Missolonghi.  And  all  around  them, 
these  Armini  come  into  contact  with  Greek  and  Slav  pro- 
paganda. And  a  great  many  have  become  Greeks  already ; 
the  greatest  part  of  the  population  of  Epirus  and  Thessaly 
are  hardly  anything  else  than  Grecised  Armini.  The 
well-to-do  classes,  almost  entirely  Grecised,  are  the  most 
ardent  supporters  of  Greek  propaganda,  spending  their 
money  on  Greek  institutions  of  culture,  &c.,  wrapping 
themselves  in  the  pride  of  borrowed  ancestors,  and  for- 
getting all  the  time  that  they  too  have  ancestors  of 
whom  they  may  be  proud. 

If  Eoumanism  in  the  Carpathian  has  been  saved  in 
the  darkest  hours  of  hardship,  it  has  been  saved  by  the 
poor,  by  the  humble ;  will  the  poor  and  the  humble  of 
the  Pindus  be  able  to  do  as  much  for  Eoumanism  in  their 


42  INTRODUCTION 

much  harder  conditions?  With  ill-will  and  cowardly 
desertion  they  can  certainly  not  be  charged;  some  of 
them  have  carried  Eoumanian  usages  and  Roumanian 
habits  and  shreds  of  Roumanian  language  as  far  as  Asia 
Minor;  in  Bythinia  there  are  villages  of  emigrated 
Armini,  still  aware  of  their  origin,  but  dead  to  the 
nation. 

From  this  rapid  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Roumanian 
nation,  it  seems  obvious  that  it  has  always  been  a  viable 
one,  is  still  in  full  vitality,  and  has  now  arrived  in  full 
force  of  manhood.  The  Roumanian  nation  has  struggled 
to  live,  and  is  still  struggling  with  staunch  stubbornness ; 
in  that  long,  protracted  struggle  she  has  acquired  a  force 
of  resistance,  a  toughness  that  has  made  her  almost 
proof  against  new  blows.  Through  the  centuries  the 
Roumanians  have  fought  for  life  and  liberty,  for  the 
preservation  of  their  nationality  and  faith  ;  they  have 
always  been  on  the  defensive,  protecting  themselves,  but 
never  attacking  others  or  taking  what  was  not  their 
own;  never  have  they  fought  to  acquire  by  violence, 
domination,  or  command  over  other  nations ;  the 
Roumanian  has  always  been  found  freeminded,  liberal, 
tolerant  in  the  full  meaning  of  the  word ;  he  will  never 
attack,  never  become  a  prey  to  greedy  desires,  but  will 
strike  hard  before  giving  up  his  own,  and  will  ever  lend  a 
docile  ear  to  that  fateful  warning  resounding  from  the 
Carpathian  far  down  into  the  plain  : — 


'  Arise,  arise,  Eoumanian, 
From  thy  deathlike  sleep, 
In  which  thou  hast  been  plunged 
By  the  barbarous  tyrants  I  * 


De§teapta-te  Eomdne, 
Din  somnul  eel  de  moarte, 
In  care  te-adancira 
Barbarii  de  tirani! 


INTRODUCTION 


43 


Now,  oh  now,  or  never. 
Shape  thee  another  fate 
To  which  thy  cruel  enemies 
May  also  bow  their  heads."  * 


i 


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I 

i 


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ba  -  rii  de    ti  -  ra  -  ni.  Bar 


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La      ca    -    re     sa       se'n   -   chi  -  ne 
VP      , 


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^^ 


-o — -m- 


cru  -  ziitaidu^-man  -  i,....     ^i  -  cru  -  zii  tai    du^-man-il 


■''  "Acum,  ori  nici-o-data, 
Croie§te-"|ii  alta  soarta 
La  care  sa  se'  nchine 
^i  cruzii  tai  du^mani."  .  . 


CHAPTEE  I 

PEASANT    AND    SOIL 

LANDED  PROPERTY 


As  those  who  have  read  the  preceding  brief  historical 
sketch  will  gather,  the  great  barbaric  invasions,  pro- 
tracted over  ten  long  centuries,  have  thrown  a  thick 
veil  over  the  formation  of  the  Eoumanian  nation,  and 
at  the  same  time  have  checked  the  growth  of  its 
natural  development,  keeping  it  still  in  infancy  up  to 
the  thirteenth  century.  During  the  short  intervals 
which  followed  the  great  storms  of  the  invasions,  we 
had  a  glimpse  of  the  Roumanians  as  they  dwelt  in 
the  Carpathians,  leaning  on  the  Carpathians,  girding 
them  all  along,  from  Western  Valachia  to  Northern 
Moldavia,  with  the  Slavs,  lower  down,  filling  the 
plains.  In  those  times  of  much  land  and  few  people — 
at  least  few  labouring  people — and  of  no  centralised 
government,  people  very  likely  took  possession  of  the 
ground  in  proportion  as  they  tilled  it,  according  to  the 
Slav  formula.  "Where  my  plough,  and  my  hoe,  and 
my  scythe  have  passed,  that  land  is  mine ;  "  and  it  is 
no  wonder  that  the  Roumanians,  who  finally'^  mixed 
with  the  Slavs  in  the  plain,  entirely  Roumanised  them 
as  they  had  already  done  the  Slavs  who  had  ventured 
up  the  mountains.  If  the  Roumanian  introduced  the 
Slav  into  the  secrets  of  ewes  and  lambs,  of  cheese 
and  butter  making,  it  is  no  less  true  that  they  also 
borrowed  from  them  many  a  new  and   useful  imple- 


Peasant  Cottage. 


\_Fhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


Ploughing. 


e  page  44. 


{Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


UNIVERSITY   " 

OF 

PEASANT  AND  SOHT'^^^^iSS--'' 

ment,  or,  at  least,  new  Slav  names  for  old  things.  As 
under  these  circumstances  property  is  to  develop  in 
the  whole  region  of  the  outer  Carpathian  slopes,  down 
to  the  Danube  and  the  Dniester,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
Eoumanian  property  should  have  been  moulded,  partly 
at  least,  on  Slav  models. 

Strictly  speaking,  property  in  Dacia  must  have  existed 
ever  since  the  colonisation,  but  the  turmoil  of  the  in- 
vasions turned  all  things  upside  down,  and  it  is  not  hard 
to  understand  that  the  Koumanians  in  their  continual 
flights  up  and  down  hill,  should  have  lost  their  **  papers  " 
had  they  had  such.  But  human  memory  was  stronger  in 
those  paperless  times,  and  witnesses  in  flesh  and  blood 
did  as  much  for  recognition  of  property  as  papers  could 
have  done.  In  a  Latin  document  of  the  Hungarian 
administration  of  Transylvania,  dating  from  the  year 
1231,  one  finds  that  a  certain  German  from  the 
lowlands,  Vydh  de  Bord,  bought  an  estate  from  a 
Eoumanian,  Bujul  filio  Stoje^  in  the  Valachian  district 
(Terra  Blacorum),  but  the  purchaser  declared  before 
the  Chapter  of  the  Church,  that  he  would  give  back 
that  land  to  its  old  owner,  another  Eoumanian,  Truth 
filio  Ghoru,  from  whom  he  had  got  the  money  given  for 
it,  and  he  would  do  this  because  Trulh  had  proved  "with 
many  witnesses  "  that  this  land  had  belonged  from  time 
immemorial  to  his  "fathers  and  forefathers."  Now  this 
is  one  fact,  and  there  are  others  which  may  still  be 
brought  to  light  from  dusty  documents,  to  the  effect 
that  landed  property  was  a  known  fact  with  Eoumanian 
people,  "  from  times  beyond  recollection." 

They  possessed  land,  and,  above  all,  they  possessed 
undoubtedly  the  mountains  and  the  poianas  on  the 
heights,  which  they  enlarged  at  will  by  burning  the  too 
cumbersome  forests.  Little  they  thought  during  their 
harassed  wanderings  from  glade  to  glade  that  new 
guests  would  come  in  later,  to  deny  not  only  their 
private,  but  even  their  national,  property  in  those 
regions,  trodden  by  them  in  all  directions. 

When  the  Hungarian  invasion  came,  Transylvania  was 
conquered,  both  the  land  and  its  owners.    Among  these 


46  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

owners  there  must  have  been  a  number  of  great  ones,  of 
**  nobles,"  as  they  are  mentioned  in  repeated  documents, 
emanating  from  Hungarian  kings  in  the  succeeding  cen- 
turies, as  having  their  privileges  repeatedly  sanctioned 
for  ** loyalty"  and  various  services,  especially  fighting 
against  the  Turks.  Loyalty  is  a  fine  word,  but  oh, 
how  elastic  its  application !  Loyal  they  were,  these 
nobles,  to  the  strange  king,  but  were  they  loyal  to 
their  own  blood,  to  their  nation,  to  their  humbler 
brethren?  It  is  well  known  that  a  great  part  of  the 
Transylvanian  nobility  passed  to  the  conqueror,  adopting 
his  language  and  creed,  in  order  not  to  lose  their  land 
and  privileges.  Those  who  declined  to  do  that — to  **  bend 
their  heads  "  under  the  foreign  yoke — were  simply  dis- 
possessed, despoiled  eventually  of  their  land,  reduced  to 
utter  poverty  and  even  to  servitude  ;  and  the  eighteenth 
century  finds  the  Roumanian  people  in  Transylvania 
without  land,  without  rights,  and  without  liberty.  They 
were  serfs,  bondsmen  on  the  land  of  the  nobles,  and 
even  the  priests  were  treated  as  such.  We  have  seen 
in  the  preceding  chapter  that  the  Roumanians  of 
Transylvania  rose  several  times  against  their  oppressors : 
spoliation  of  their  lands  was  always  one  of  the  chief 
causes  for  this.  After  bloody  suppression  of  risings 
punishment  came :  new  spoliations,  new  sufferings ;  a 
kind  of  vicious  circle,  spoliation  engendering  rebellion, 
rebellion  bringing  about  spoliation.  Suppression  of  serf- 
dom was  itself  only  the  outcome  of  the  bloody  rising  of 
1785.  But  the  Roumanians  were  not  serfs  alone,  the 
Hungarian  peasant  shared  the  same  fate.  So  much  for 
the  Carpathian  plateau. 

As  to  the  outer  slopes  of  the  Carpathians,  we  know 
that  they  were  taken  possession  of  by  the  Roumanians 
descending  from  the  heights,  long  before  the  foundation 
of  the  two  principalities  of  Valachia  and  Moldavia,  and 
this  often  by  the  burning  of  forests  and  by  the  cutting 
down  and  uprooting  of  trees  and  roots.  In  what  manner 
this  taking  possession  was  settled  at  the  time,  it  would 
be  hard  to  say  exactly ;  one  thing,  however,  seems 
certain,  namely,  that  in  the  oldest  times,  property  was 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  47 

inherited  undivided,  the  heirs  dividing  only  the  income 
from  it.     Later,  these  undivided  properties  began  to  be 
divided    into    "bodies,"   worked    still    in    common    by 
groups     of     individuals     descending     from     the     same 
ancestor.     To    the    present    day,   an    estate    recognised 
as  having  been  the  original  property  of  a  family,  before 
the   division   was  made,   is   still   called  a   bdtrdn — from 
veteranus.     "We  know    that    the   Koman    veterani  (sol- 
diers  whose    service   was    ended)   were    given    land    in 
the  regions  they  had  been  guarding;    what  if  property 
on  these  slopes  of  the  Carpathians  had  its  origin  rooted 
in  the   Eoman    colonisation  ?    However    that  may  be, 
*  these  primitive  landowners,  whether  individual  or  col- 
lective proprietors,  small  or  large  ones,  being  bound  by 
similar  interests,  have  naturally  united,  little  by  little, 
and  either  submitted  to  one  or  another  chief  or  voye- 
vode,  like  Lithuon  and   Seneslau  and  others  mentioned 
in  history ;    or  else  came  to   some  kind  of  republican 
organisation  of  their   own,   such,   for  instance,   as  the 
simple  organisations  of  the    Eoumanian  Vrancea    and 
Cimpulung  or  the  Slav  republic  of  Berlad  seem  to  have 
been,  forming  thus  first  rudiments  of  State  life.     When 
the  founders  of  the  principalities  came  from  beyond  the 
mountains  they  found  these  rudiments   of    states,   and 
mastered    them.      History  is    not    quite    clear  on  this 
point,  but  very  likely  the  foundation  of   unity  was  not 
completed  without  a   struggle.     With  respect   to   Mol- 
davia,  history    actually  tells    us    how   Bogdan  had    to 
fight  against  Balk,  son  of  Sas  the  Moldavian,  son  him- 
self of  the  legendary  Dragosh.     If  fights  there  were,  it 
is  pretty  certain  that  the  fate  of  those  beaten  was  not 
the  same  as  the  fate  of  the  victors,   nor  even  indeed 
the  same  as   the  fate   of  those  who  willingly  accepted 
the  new  rule.     The  landowners,  large  and  small,  who 
willingly  recognised  the  new  ruler,  of  the  same  blood 
and  creed  as  themselves,  were  left  free  possessors  of 
their  lands    and  rights,   on    condition    that    they  paid 
certain   taxes    and    gave  military  service.      Those  sub- 
jected  by   force   were   obliged  to   provide   a  number  of 
days   of  various  services  for  the  prince,  as  well  as  to 


48  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

pay  taxes  and  to  fulfil  military  service,  differing  thus 
little  on  the  whole  from  the  free  landowners.  Besides, 
the  founders  of  the  principalities  took  at  the  same  time 
possession,  nominally  at  least,  of  the  waste  land, 
belonging  to  nobody  in  particular,  and  of  which  there 
seem  to  have  been  very  large  regions,  together  with 
endless  woods. 

Thus  the  property  respected  by  the  prince  at  the 
moment  of  the  foundation  was  made  up  of  large  land 
holdings — the  property  of  nobility — and  the  holdings 
of  small  landowners,  the  rdzdshi,  as  they  are  called  in 
Moldavia,  or  moshneni,  as  they  are  called  in  Valachia. 
Of  these  rdzdshi  and  moshneni  (yeomen)  there  exists 
a  certain  number  to  the  present  day,  being  the 
landowners  who  can  show  the  oldest  documents  of 
landed  property  in  all  Eoumania.  They  seem  to  have 
been  very  numerous ;  besides,  later  division  of  property 
brought  in  the  long  run  most  of  the  great  landowners 
to  the  rank  of  mere  rdzdshi.  A  third  kind  of  property 
existed  also,  namely,  the  common  property,  by  which  a 
whole  village  owned  in  common  a  whole  estate ;  that 
this  common  property  must  have  had  deep  roots  is 
proved  by  an  enactment  which,  even  later,  never 
allowed  the  selling  off  of  a  property  to  a  stranger 
without  the  consent  of  all  the  members  of  the  family 
or  neighbours.  On  the  other  hand,  the  prince  came 
with  a  troop  of  followers,  who  helped  him  to  become 
lord  of  the  country;  these  he  had  to  reward  for  the 
service  done,  and  the  reward  always  consisted  of  land. 
Some  of  them  were  presented  with  stretches  of  the 
waste  land  of  which  the  prince  had  just  taken  posses- 
sion, but  what  is  land  without  implements  to  till  it  ? 
The  new  proprietors  had  to  coax  inhabitants  to  these 
empty  estates,  and  this  they  did  by  just  giving  them 
some  land  under  certain  conditions.  Others  of  the 
monarch's  followers  were  presented  by  him  with  some 
of  his  subjected  villages,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  claims 
he  had  himself  on  the  inhabitants  of  those  villages,  as 
already  alluded  to. 

As  villages  had  their  landed  property,  so  had  the  towns, 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  49 

which,  by  the  way,  cannot  have  been  for  some  time 
(most  of  them  at  least)  much  more  than  villages.  Down 
to  the  present  day  there  are  towns  with  land  of  their  own, 
the  mo§ia  tdrgului  (the  town  estate),  possessed  once  by 
the  bulk  of  the  town's  population  in  common,  and  passed 
later  on  into  the  hands  of  the  communal  authorities. 

Koughly  speaking,  this  was  the  state  of  the  rural 
property  between  the  thirteenth  and  the  sixteenth 
century.  No  doubt  it  has  not  remained  crystallised  in 
that  way  all  through  the  three  centuries ;  property  has 
certainly  shifted  a  good  deal  from  hand  to  hand,  but 
on  the  whole  the  framework  has  been  the  same  all 
along.  In  this  period  of  time  there  have  been  many 
wars :  small  and  large  landowners  must  have  been 
doing  their  duty,  and  consequently  must  have  won 
new  rewards,  new  stretches  of  land  from  the  immense 
property  of  the  monarch.  Others,  again,  may  not 
have  done  their  duty,  not  provided  the  due  number 
of  soldiers,  or  not  paid  the  required  taxation  :  punish- 
ment must  have  befallen  them;  namely,  their  land 
must  have  been  taken  by  the  prince  to  increase  his 
own  domain,  or  else  to  be  presented  to  others,  to 
warriors  or  to  monasteries,  when  the  monarch  was  of  a 
particularly  religious  turn  of  mind.  In  this  way  large 
properties  may  have  gone  on  increasing ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  small  properties  held  their  own  too,  by  the 
successive  division  of  large  properties  among  the  several 
inheritors. 

Of  those  remote,  quasi-patriarchal  times,  the  Rou- 
manian peasant  has  preserved  the  remembrance  in 
more  than  one  ballad,  faithful  mirrors  bringing  back 
to  us  the  life  of  those  times  with  its  lights  and  shade. 
As  already  shown,  in  those  old  golden  times  there 
seems  to  have  been  land  for  all,  more  indeed  than 
was  wanted,  vast  regions  belonging  to  nobody,  beside 
immense  expanses  of  woods  belonging  to  all  at  large 
and  to  nobody  in  particular.  Those  lands  and  those 
woods  belonged  nominally  to  the  voyevode,  but  practi- 
cally, and  probably  from  an  older  date  than  his,  they 
belonged  to  any  vagrant  adventurer  who  dared  to  take 

5 


50  FKOM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

them.  The  popular  ballads  bring  before  our  eyes  the 
picture  of  those  times,  when  the  bold  adventurers  won 
fields  and  forests,  and  in  their  attitude  as  transient 
masters,  stood  up  to  fight  any  transgressor  of  their 
boundaries  and  plundered  him.  Handsome  and  brave 
as  a  rule,  our  adventurer  was  oftentimes  more  conceited 
and  vain  than  really  strong — Pduna§ul  Codrilor  (''little 
peacock  of  the  woods")  he  was  called — so  that  often 
enough  he  was  overcome  and  driven  away  by  the 
coarser  rival. 

In  those  policeless,  fearless  days,  lived  Sto'ian-Popa 
(Stoian  the  ex-priest),  a  renowned  robber.  He  drives 
along  in  his  ox-cart  with  his  handsome  wife  Vidra ; 
they  are  on  a  visiting  journey  to  the  wife's  parents. 
Slowly,  carelessly,  they  drive  on,  over  woods,  over 
mountains,  over  villages,  without  any  one  disturbing 
them  in  the  least.  But  Stoian  is  weary  of  the  long 
journey,  he  wants  a  song  from  his  wife.  She  would 
much  rather  not  sing,  for  she  knows  the  power  of 
her  voice,  which  would  arouse  woods  and  mountains, 
and  valleys  and  waters,  and  surely  bring  on  them  the 
Pduna§ul  Codrilor.  Oh !  but  strong  Stoian  does  not 
mind  him,  he  is  ready  to  fight  and  overcome  him; 
he  insists  on  the  song  and  gets  it.  The  Pdu7ia§ul 
Codrilor  appears,  and  requests  Stoian  to  pay  a  pass 
fee,  namely,  his  oxen,  his  cart,  his  hatchet,  or  his  fair 
wife.     Stoian  declines — 

"  For  the  soil  is  not  thine ; 
Neither  thine,  nor  is  it  mine, 
But  it  all  belongs  to  God."  ^^^ 

They  fight,  the  Pduna§  is  overcome,  and  Stoian 
goes  off.  In  other  versions,  the  outcome  of  the  fight 
is  the  reverse  of  this,  and  people's  sympathies  are 
divided  between  the  equally  brilliant  adventurer  and 
the  bandit,  but  indifferent,  after  all,  to  both ;  or  rather, 


**'Caci  pam^ntul  nu-i  al  tau ; 
Nici  al  tau  nu-i,  nici  al  meu, 
Ci-i  tot  a  lui  Dumnezeu." 


Walking  with  her  Distaff. 


IPhoio,  J.  Cazaban. 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  51 

they  are  sure  to  hold  with  the  bravest  in  the  fight. 
The  trdnta  dreapta  (the  fair  fight),  where  the  bravest 
overcomes  the  weakest,  is  a  fight  dear  to  the  Eoumanian 
heart,  even  at  the  present  day. 

With  much  more  deHght  does  the  popular  poet  indulge 
in  circumstantial  pictures  of  the  deeds  of  the  national 
hero  overcoming  the  foreign  bandit,  the  national  enemy. 
Mihu  Copilul  is  a  young  hero  of  this  type,  and  a  great 
favourite  with  the  people,  who  have  sung  his  praises 
in  numberless  ballads  all  over  the  regions  occupied  by 
Eoumanians.     This  is  the  tale  : — 

Mihu  Copilul,  Pduna§  de  frunte,  copila§  de  munte 
(**  best  of  peacocks,  child  of  the  mountain  ")  rides  away, 
*' caressing"  the  woods  with  the  tunes  of  his  cobuz 
(a  sort  of  flute).  He  rides  at  midnight,  through  dark, 
thick  woods  on  a  stony  path,  lighted  only  now  and  then 
by  the  sparks  brought  forth  from  the  stones  by  the  hoof 
of  his  "  bay."  They  go  along  through  the  sleepy  forest ; 
the  horse  seems  weary,  the  master  tenderly  asks  him  the 
reason,  the  horse  warns  him  against  unseen  danger, 
against  the  approaching  foe,  hidden  in  the  thicket : — 

*'  Janosh,  the  Hungarian 
The  hardened  robber."* 

who  is  near  at  hand  with  his  "  fifty-but-five  "  followers. 
But  the  master  encourages  the  faithful  horse;  he  is 
strong  and  knows  also  that — 

"  The  Hungarian  is  a  braggart, 
He  is  not  dangerous; 
His  mouth  is  large 
But  does  not  bite  hard."  f 


*  "Janu§,  Ungurean 
Vechiul  ho^oman." 

f  *'  Unguru-i  falos 
Nu-i  primejdios. 
Gura  lui  e  mare 
Dar  nu  mu^ca  tare. 


52  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Hungarian  thief  Janosh  sits 
down  banqueting  with  his  attendants;  of  a  sudden  he 
warns  them  with  a  start  that  he  has  heard — 

"A  sound  of  a  whistle 
Sounding  through  the  leaves 
Caressing  the  woods."-'' 

and  sends  them  in   search  of    the    stranger  with    the 
boastful  injunction — 

"If  he  is  some  brave 
With  blooming  cheeks, 
Do  not  injure  him 
But  bring  him  fast  bound. 
If  he  is  some  fool 
Spoiled  by  the  women, 
Give  him  a  cuff 
And  let  him  go."f 

But  our  hero  makes  them  take  to  their  heels,  and 
following  them  to  their  chief,  makes  them  all  meek 
as  lambs  with  a  tune  on  his  cobuz : — 

"A  wailing  tune 
So  beautiful 

That  mountains  resound, 
And  falcons  gather,  J 


*  **Un  glas  de  cobuz 
Printre  frunzi  sunand 
Codrii  desmierdand." 

f  "De-a  fi  vre-un  viteaz 
Cu  flori  pe  obraz 
Sa  nu  mi-1  strica^i 
Ci  sa  mi-1  lega^ii. 
Ear  vre-un  fermecat 
De  femei  stricat 
O  palma  sa-i  da^i 
Drumul  sa-i  lasa^i." 

I  "Un  cintec  duios 
Atit  de  frumos 
Mun^ii  ca  rasuna 
^oimii  se  aduna 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  53 

The  woods  awaken, 

The  leaves  whisper, 

The  stars  twinkle 

And  stop  in  their  course."  * 

Janosh  invites  Mihu  to  partake  of  his  meal,  after 
which  single  combat  is  to  decide  between  them.  The 
result  is  Janosh's  death.  The  followers  of  the  Hungarian 
chief  now  beg  the  victorious  Mihu  to  take  them  into  his 
service ;  he  promises  to  do  so,  if  they  are  able  to  lift  his 
weapons  from  the  ground,  but  these  proving  too  heavy 
for  them,  he  dismisses  them  with  scorn — 

"You  cowards! 
Beast-like  men  I 
Leave  the  woods 
And  take  to  the  yoke, 
For  you,  you  are  not. 
You  are  not  like  us 
Men  of  true  pride 
Fit  for  bravery, 
But  men  of  the  rabble 
Fit  for  the  broad  hoe  I "  f 

With  this  last  stroke  the  poet  has  drawn  the  line 
between  the  daring  adventurer  and  the  common  herd  of 
the  men  whose  lot  it  is  to  till  the  ground. 

Even  more  is  admired  the  well-to-do  landowner  of 
those  times,  who,  weary  of  husbandry,  and  moved  by  the 


*  Codrii  se  trezesc 
Frunzele  ^optesc 
Stelele  clipesc 

§i  'n  cale  s'  opresc." 

•  "Voi  miseilorl 

Haraminilor  1 
Codrii  mi-i  lasa|ii 
Giugul  apuca^i, 
Ca  nu  sinte^i  voi 
Nu  sinte^i  ca  noi 
Oameni  de  mandrie 
Buni  de  vitejie 
Ci  oameni  de  gloata 
Buni  de  sapa  latal" 


54  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

spirit  of  adventure,  and  the  desire  of  revenge  for  the 
ever-recurring  plunders  of  his  country,  starts  against  the 
Tartars  (settled  down  for  centuries  in  South  Russia  and 
the  Crimea)  and,  deserting  home  and  plough,  rushes  across 
the  Dniester  for  bloody  revenge ;  Bomdn  Grue  Grozovan  is 
the  favourite  hero  of  this  type. 

"High  up  the  Dniester,  under  Heaven's  skirts"  there 
is  a  Tartar  camp ;  in  the  middle,  a  carpeted  tent,  tall  and 
gorgeous,  in  which  the  old  Khan  sits,  surrounded  by  his 
guard  of  Tartars,  with  "  bolting  eyes,"  all  on  their  knees. 
At  the  door,  a  *'  poor,  bound  Roumanian,"  the  "  Rouma- 
nian Grue  Grozovan  "  is  being  tortured  by  two  Tartars, 
but  does  not  seem  to  mind  it  in  the  least.  Women  come 
waiHng  to  complain  about  wrongs  done  to  them  by  Grue, 
at  which  the  incensed  Khan  draws  his  dagger,  and 
threatens  the  captive  hero ;  but  he  only  answers  coolly — 

"Eheu!  Lordl  You  old  Khan 
Leave  that  dagger  in  your  belt, 
For  I  am  son  of  a  Eoumanian, 
And  have  no  fear  of  a  pagan."* 

Whilst  being  tortured  he  revolves  in  his  head  a  bold 
plan  "to  cheat  them  yet";  he  willingly  acknowledges 
all  the  misdoings  imputed  to  him,  but  asks  for  time  for 
repentance,  and  for  a  Christian  death — "  a  Roumanian 
death,"  says  he. 

Accordingly  he  is  sent  under  strong  escort  to  a  neigh- 
bouring monastery  upon  the  hill  to  make  his  amends. 
Once  there,  he  asks  for  the  release  of  his  right  arm  that 
he  may  cross  himself;  he  crosses  himself  indeed  twice, 
and  upon  the  third  move  catches  an  axe  and  rushes  on 
the  Tartars,  who  take  to  flight — then  away  he  runs  to 
the  Khan's  stables,  springs  on  his  best  black  courser,  and 
showing  himself  before  the  Khan's  own  tent,  is  off  and 
away !     The  Tartars  rush  after  him,  but — 


'  Alei  I  Doamne  !  chan  batran 
Lasa  eel  hamger  la  san 
Ca  en  sint  pui  de  Eom^n 
§i  nu-mi  pasa  de  pagan." 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  55 

"Woe  to  you,  O  pagan  Tartars, 
Your  'to-morrow'  is  gone  byl 
Look,  Grue  is  coming  back, 
And  throws  himself  among  you, 
Like  a  blasting  whirlwind 
In  a  field  of  dried  corn ; 
And  with  foolish  little  black 
He  takes  you  all  one  by  one. 
In  a  dash  he  mows  you  down. 
And  cuts  you  down  like  sheaves 
And  deprives  you  of  your  wealth. 
And  spares  you  all  future  illness 
And  leaves  you  behind  him 
Like  mole-hills  in  a  field !  "  * 

And  the  victorious  Grue  goes  back  to  his  home,  to  his 
old  pursuits,  and  does  many  new  feats  among  his  fellow- 
countrymen  : — 

"Like  a  warming  sun. 
Warming  and  fertilising; 
For  much  good  he  does  on  earth 
To  bring  peace  into  his  soul."  f 

Those  old  times  of  heroism  are  not  without  their  wit- 
ness to  female  bravery  also.  Shalga,  the  clever  widow, 
has  her  sheepfolds  set  high  up  the  Danube.     One  night 


^'  "Alelei,  Tartar!  pag&ni 

Vi  s'a  stans  ziua  de  mani  1 
lata  Grue  da  'napoi 
^i  s'arunca  printre  voi 
Ca  un  vant  inviforat 
Intr  'un  Ian  de  grau  uscat. 
§i  cu  negru^or  nebunul 
Va  iea  unul  cate  unul 
§i  din  fuga  va  cose^te 
Si  va  taie  chip  snope^te 
^i  de  averi  va  curate^te 
§i  de  boala  va  scute^te 
^i  va  lasa  'n  urma  lui 
Ca  momii  de-a  campului." 

f  "  Ca  un  soare  ce  'ncalze^te 
Incalze^te  si  rode^te 
Ca  mult  bine  'n  lume  face 
Sufletul  sa  §i-l  impace." 


56  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

she  wakes  at  her  home  at  the  sound  of  her  baciu's 
(head  of  shepherds)  bucium  (  "  cane  pipe,"  from  buccina). 
She  springs  on  her  horse  with  her  buzdugan  ("  club  ")  in 
her  hand,  she  gallops  after  the  robbers,  whose  chief  even 
has  taken  to  flight  now : — 

"He  flew  on,  and  on,  and  on. 
Did  not  even  turn  his  head, 
Shalga  is  here,  Shalga  is  there, 
In  flight  she  cuts  off  his  head  I 
The  head  remained  behind 
The  body  fleeing  still  on 
The  blood  ran  down  in  streams, 
The  road  turning  red  1 "  "i" 

From  this  it  appears  clear  that  in  those  remote 
times,  beside  the  admired  person  of  the  fair  knightly- 
adventurer,  beside  the  noble  figure  of  the  national  bravo, 
always  victorious  and  always  fighting  for  a  right  cause, 
there  existed  also  robbers  of  the  common  type,  for  whom, 
however,  the  people  had  nothing  but  contempt  and  scorn. 
They  were  only — 

"  The  eaters  of  the  sheep, 
The  fear  of  the  merchants, 
The  whip  of  the  poor."  f 


II 

Adventure  and  adventurers  disappear  little  by  little  in 
proportion  as  the  large  domain  of  the  voyevode  goes  on 

*  "  Se  ducea,  ducea,  ducea, 
Nici  capul  nu-^i  intorcea 
§alga-i  ici,  Salga-i  colea 
Capul  din  fuga-i  taial 
Gapu  'n  urma  ramanea 
Trupu  'nainte  fugea 
Sangele  parau  curgea 
Drumul  ro§  ca  se  facea  I " 

f  "  Mancatorii  oilor 
Frica  negustorilor 
§1  biciul  saracilor." 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  57 

diminishing,  portions  of  it  being  over  and  over  again 
given  as  reward  for  service  in  war.  The  recipient  had 
every  reason  to  desire  a  profit  from  the  land  received,  so 
he  did  his  best  to  attract  settlers ;  but  to  that  end  peace 
and  safety  had  to  be  secured  in  those  lands.  Many  an 
adventurer  probably  settled  down  quietly,  handing  over 
to  his  children  and  grandchildren  the  reminiscences  of 
his  youth's  adventures,  which,  magnified  by  youthful 
fancy,  became  the  ballads  of  which  we  have  seen  some 
fragments. 

The  voyevode  was  wont  to  give  land  to  his  warriors  ; 
oftener,  probably,  to  those  nearer  to  him,  to  those  higher 
on  the  social  ladder ;  but  oftentimes  also  brave  but  poorer 
people  were  distinguished  in  the  crowd,  and  their  reward 
was  land  also.  Small  as  well  as  large  landowners  were 
equally  obliged  to  give  military  service,  and  at  their  own 
expense  ;  but  wars  were  frequent  and  expenses  heavy,  so 
that  many  a  small  landowner  was  in  the  long  run  obliged 
to  sell  his  land  in  order  to  pay  the  debts  contracted 
through  his  military  duties.  Thus  the  giving  of  land  to 
him  was,  after  all,  nothing  more  than  a  fair  return  for 
the  loss  incurred.  The  popular  mind  has  kept  a  record 
of  such  facts  in  a  fine  Moldavian  ballad  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  which  belongs  to  the  heroic  times  of  Stephen 
the  Great. 

On  a  Saint's  day — a  fine  day,  in  which  "  the  sun  was 
wrapping  the  world  in  gold" — Prince  Stephen,  ''like 
another  sun,"  rose  to  go  to  church.  Biding  with  his 
suite,  with  cheering  crowds  all  along  the  road,  he  hears 
the  sound  of  a  distant  voice,  a  voice  of  a  man  in  trouble, 
shouting  as  hard  as  he  can  : — 


Ha,  ho,  on  Bourean 

Draw  the  furrow  on  the  ridge  1"  * 


And  the  good  monarch  says  to  his  followers- 


"Hai,  ho,  ^a,  Bourean 
Trage  brazda  pe  tap^an  1 " 


68  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"  Have  you  heard,  0  have  you  heard, 
A  voice  of  Roumanian  in  woe? 
Go  and  find  him  in  a  twinkMng 
And  be  back  with  him  at  once  1 "  * 

The  order  is  executed,  the  peasant  is  taken  from  his 
plough  on  the  hill  and  brought  before  the  monarch,  who 
kindly  talks  to  him  thus  : — 

"Well,  my  man,  be  not  afraid, 
And  tell  me  what  is  your  name? 
— Afraid  I  am  not,  being  a  Roumanian, 
Afraid  I  am  not,  you  being  my  lord  I 
You  are  Stephen,  the  great  prince, 
Who  has  no  peer  in  the  world, 
And  I  am  Shoiman  Burtchel, 
The  son  of  a  dear  little  brave  I"  f 

Then  the  voyevode  goes  on  to  ask  how  it  is  that  he  is 
working  on  a  Saint's  day.  The  peasant  relates  how  he 
has  been  once  a  soldier,  and  has  killed  many  a  foe — Tartar, 
Lithuanian,  Hungarian — with  his  trusty  weapon,  "an 
unpeeled  club  set  with  nails  "  ;  but  one  day  his  club,  his 
ghioaga,  fell,  cut  down  by  a  hostile  sword,  and  along  with 
it  his  own  right  hand  fell  by  the  side  of  the  pagan.  Ever 
since  he  was  left  a  poor  man,  having  "  neither  house,  nor 
plough,  nor  bullock  to  yoke."  All  the  summer  he  has 
begged  the  rich  for  the  loan  of  a  plough,  but  in  vain; 
then  he  went  to  the  Tartars,  seized  a  big  plough,  put  one 
single  ox  to  it,  and  went  to  plough  on  that  mound. 


*  "Auzit-a^i  auzit 

Glas  de  Rom&n  nacajit? 
Intr  'o  chpa  sa-1  gasi^i 
§i  cu  el  aici  sa  fi^i ! " 

f  "  Mai  Romgine  sa  n'ai  teama 
Spune-mi  mie  cum  te  chiama  ? 
— Teama  n'  am  ca  sant  Rom&n 
Teama  n'  am  ca-mi  e^ti  stapdn  1 
Tu  e^ti  §tefan  domn  eel  mare 
Care'n  lume  saman  n'  are 
^i  eu  sant  Soiman  Burcel 
Pui§or  de  voinicel  I " 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  59 

•'  For  the  poor  has  neither  sun 
Nor  any  holy  day, 
But  all  working  days  only  I  "  * 


At  last  speaks  the  voyevode 


"  Now,  Burchele,  my  dear  man, 
Listen  to  what  I  am  deciding: 
Take  a  plough  with  six  bullocks 
And  go  rich  away  from  us ; 
Take  that  mound  as  r&zashie 
To  have  it  for  tillage  ground. 
But  on  the  top  of  it  you'll  settle, 
Like  a  sentry  you  will  watch 
And  if  ever  you  see 
Tartars  entering  my  country, 
Cry  as  hard  you  ever  can: 
'  Spring,  0  Stephen,  to  the  border 
Sword  has  entered  the  land ! ' 
Then  it  is  I  shall  hear  you, 
Like  a  dragon  will  I  leap  forth. 
And  no  trace  shall  be  left  behind 
Of  Tartars  in  my  land  I  "  f 


"!'  "  Ca  saracul  n'  are  soare 
Nici  zile  de  sarbatoare 
Ci  tot  zile  lucratoare  1 " 

\  "  Mai  Burcele  fatul  meu 
lata  ce  hotarasc  eu 
Iea--^i  un  plug  cu  ^ase  boi 
Sa  mergi  bogat  de  la  noi; 
lea-^i  movila  raza^ie 
Ca  s'o  ai  de  plugarie 
Dar  in  virfu-i  sa  te-a^ezi 
Ca  strajer  sa  privighezi 
^i  Tatarii  de-i  vedea 
C  au  intrat  in  ^ara  mea, 
Tu  sa  strigi  cit  ii  putea: 
*  Sai,  ^tefane,  la  hotare 
Ca  intrat  sabia'n  |iara  I ' 
Atunci  eu  te-oiu  auzi 
Ca  un  zmeu  m'oiii  repezi 
Si  nici  urma  a  ramdnea 
'Pe  Tatari  in  ^ara  meal" 


60  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

The  "mound  of  Burtchel"  is  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  town  of  Vaslui ;  the  legend  of  Burtchel  is  not  for- 
gotten, and  tradition  tells  us  that  in  Stephen's  time 
a  sentry  was  posted  on  that  mound  whose  voice  was 
supposed  to  be  so  strong  that  it  could  be  heard  in  the 
prince's  capital,  Succava. 

Things  went  on  in  this  way  as  long  as  the  domain  of 
the  voyevode — renewed  from  time  to  time  by  confisca- 
tions of  various  provinces — lasted.  Lost  property,  renewed 
property,  went  on  changing  from  hand  to  hand.  But  it 
was  natural  that  a  time  should  come  when  the  domains 
of  the  prince  would  cease  to  be  his ;  and  it  came.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  wars  went  on,  and  the  small  landowners — 
soldiers  at  their  own  expense — one  after  the  other  lost 
their  properties,  which  were  pawned  and  then  sold  for  a 
trifle  to  the  great  landowner.  The  number  of  large  land- 
owners went  on  increasing.  These  also  used  to  receive 
land  from  the  prince,  for  their  services  in  war  or  other- 
wise, but  when  the  prince  had  no  more  land  to  give, 
rivalry  and  intrigue  became  rampant  among  the  boiars, 
in  the  effort  to  see  who  would  be  able  to  rise  higher 
in  the  voyevode's  favour,  and  have  his  fellow  boiar 
despoiled  and  disgraced,  and  succeed  to  the  spoils. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  principaHties  became  tributaries 
to  the  Turks,  and  the  tribute  increased  with  amazing 
rapidity,  and  with  it  the  taxation  on  the  people,  taxation 
still  weighing  proportionately — in  principle  at  least — on 
all,  according  to  wealth.  But  that  is  not  all.  The  Turks 
acquired  the  habit,  transformed  gradually  into  a  right,  of 
nominating  the  voyevodes  of  the  principalities,  and  this 
nomination  is  made  for  money ;  quite  apart  from  the 
regular  tribute  the  thrones  were  bought,  and  the  price  of 
a  throne  became  larger  and  larger  with  almost  every  new 
prince,  and  yet  the  competition  for  the  Roumanian 
thrones  grew  faster  and  faster.  The  candidates  for  the 
thrones  hardly  ever  had  money  of  their  own  to  buy  them, 
but  Constantinople  was  swarming  with  usurers  of  all 
kinds,  mostly  Greeks,  with  ever  ready  money  to  lend  the 
candidates  at  excessive  interest.  The  successful  candi- 
date, once  in  possession  of  the  throne,  had  nothing  more 


Temporary  Hut  in  the  Field. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


\ce  page  60. 


A  Raft  on  the  Bistritza. 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  61 

pressing  to  think  of  than  the  collecting  of  money,  for  the 
tribute,  for  paying  off  the  borrowed  money,  for  his  own 
wants,  and  in  provision  for  the  dark  future  and  a 
probable  need  of  a  new  struggle  for  the  throne.  All  the 
weight  of  these  expenses  could  not  but  fall  upon  the 
people.  The  poor  got  poorer  and  poorer,  till  they  fell 
into  the  most  abject  serfdom.  At  first  their  various 
labour  duties  towards  the  big  landowner  were  increased  ; 
next,  they  resigned  their  own  lands  into  his  hands,  on 
condition,  however,  that  they  could  live  on  them  and  have 
a  right  to  till  them ;  one  step  further  and  they  were 
prevented  from  ever  leaving  the  land  which  was  theirs  no 
more,  but  must  abide  there,  at  the  good  will  of  the  land- 
owner, and  work  for  him  as  much  as  he  wished.  The 
still  free  rdzdshi,  or  small  landowners,  went  quickly  down 
the  same  way,  being  for  the  slightest  reason  treated  by 
the  voyevode  as  he  treated  the  subjected  villages,  and 
given  away  to  boiars,  the  more  so  that  the  boiars,  besides 
intriguing  at  Court,  soon  began  to  intrigue  at  Constanti- 
nople too,  in  many  ways  influencing  the  nomination  of 
the  new  voyevode,  or  the  overthrow  of  the  existing  one. 
The  voyevode  quite  naturally  heaped  favours  on  the 
heads  of  his  adherents,  persecuting  his  opponents  as 
much  as  he  could,  but  the  happy  boiars  could  hardly  get 
land  always  from  the  prince,  as  there  was  less  and  less  to 
be  got ;  instead  of  that,  the  functions  of  the  Court  and 
State,  not  much  appreciated  till  then,  came  into  fashion  ; 
the  favourite  boiars  received  henceforth  their  rewards  in 
offices,  and  titles  appended  to  them,  which  functions  and 
honours  entitled  the  bearer  to  a  series  of  rights  and 
revenues  from  the  country.  Privileges  thus  set  in, 
formally,  officially. 

But  something  worse  was  to  come  yet.  The  money- 
lenders in  Constantinople,  seeing  that  the  voyevodes  were 
changed  so  often — and  this  change  became  more  fre- 
quent in  proportion  as  the  Turks  felt  greater  need  of 
money — that  they  seldom  had  time  to  get  enough  money 
from  the  principalities  to  pay  their  loans,  would  lend  no 
more,  except  to  candidates  who  undertook  to  pay  the 
loans  of  their  predecessors  as  well  as  their  own.    In  this 


62  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

way  the  sums  due  to  usurers  in  Constantinople  became 
so  large  that  the  princes  could  no  longer  pay  them.  But 
the  crafty  usurers  discovered  new  means  of  getting  their 
money  back  and  even  with  greater  profit ;  they  came  into 
the  Roumanian  countries  in  the  rear  of  the  voyevodes. 
Thus  the  principalities  were  filled  with  Greeks  and  with 
Turks,  carrying  on  trade  at  their  own  will  and  pleasure, 
and  at  their  own  prices,  and  all  under  the  high  shield  of 
the  Sultan,  for  no  Roumanian  produce  could  be  sold 
except  at  Constantinople,  and  at  prices,  ridiculously  low, 
fixed  there.  Most  of  the  Greeks  became  tax-gatherers, 
also  in  the  interests  of  the  voyevodes  and  their  own. 

And  so  it  came  about  that  with  the  seventeenth 
century  a  great  change  set  in.  We  find  the  greatest 
part  of  the  population  fallen  low  under  the  yoke  of 
serfdom ;  we  find  that  many  of  the  great  landowners  of 
old  have  sunk  to  the  rank  of  small  landowners,  or  rdzdshi 
— mostly  through  division  of  property — and  not  seldom 
also  into  serfdom  itself.  Serfs  began  to  be  treated  more 
severely  than  ever ;  they  could  no  longer  stand  it : 
eventually  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 
emigration  was  in  full  swing.  Higher  up  we  find  the 
nobility  with  their  titles,  their  lands,  and  their  serfs,  but 
few  of  them  are  Roumanians.  Among  the  Greek  usurers 
many  have  crept  into  places  of  honour  beside  the 
monarch,  and,  instead  of  being  paid  their  loan  in  money, 
were  paid  in  functions  and  titles,  in  lands  also,  oftener  by 
marriage  with  the  boiars'  daughters,  just  as  the  monarchs 
willed.  From  the  seventeenth  century  onward  the 
national  nobility  began  to  be  invaded  by  foreign  elements 
— Greek  adventurers,  sly,  creeping  hand-lickers  of  a 
parvenu-prince,  a  mere  puppet  himself  in  the  hands  of 
the  Turks.  But  with  all  that,  there  was  none  the  less  an 
all-powerful,  absolute  monarch  on  his  throne,  and  no  one 
would  have  been  able  to  stand  his  wrath.  All  honest 
and  really  noble  Roumanian  nobles  had  to  retire  to  the 
background,  and  efface  themselves,  if  they  wanted  to 
live.  There  were  risings,  but  they  led  to  nothing  so  far 
as  the  people  and  their  conditions  in  life  were  con- 
cerned ;  they  were  at  the  lowest  depth  of  their  misery. 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  63 

Serfdom  has  overshadowed  with  its  dark  wings  all  the 
Carpathians. 

Some  bright  intervals  in  this  gloomy  prospect  broke 
now  and  then  its  all  too  sad  monotony:  there  are 
instances  of  honourable  rich  landowners,  who,  feeling  the 
injustice  of  serfdom,  gave  back  to  their  serfs  their  soil 
and  liberty.  Of  these  generous  deeds  there  is  documen- 
tary evidence  in  the  seventeenth  century,  two  notable 
examples  being  due  to  women.  The  first  was  by  a 
certain  lady  Bolosina,  widow  of  the  boiar  pitar  (the 
Baker)  Dima,  who  on  her  deathbed  presented  her  serfs 
with  their  lands  and  freedom,  on  condition  that  they 
would  remember  her  in  their  prayers.  The  second  was 
by  Ileana  Cantacuzino,  widow  of  an  eminent  statesman, 
who  presented  land  and  freedom  to  some  of  her  serfs,  on 
condition  that  if  they  were  ever  to  sell  their  hberty 
again,  then  her  heirs  should  have  the  right  to  take  back 
the  lands  without  payment.  As  it  appears,  freedom  was 
not  easily  preserved. 

These  were  times  of  hardship  and  suffering — no  longer 
times  of  romantic  adventure  and  heroism.  A  chasm  had 
opened  between  rich  and  poor,  ever  widening,  through 
the  ferocious  greed  of  the  former  and  the  ever-increasing 
poverty  of  the  latter.  The  upper  classes  learned  the 
lesson  in  the  school  of  the  oppressor,  that  wealth  and 
rank  can  be  won  by  other  means  than  bravery  :  crawling 
and  intriguing  near  the  voyevode  were  equally  effective ; 
they  continued  to  behave  the  more  rapaciously  and 
cruelly  towards  their  inferiors.  Hatred  thus  sprang  up 
between  the  two  classes.  This  hatred  is  embodied  in 
the  figure  of  the  famous  haidook  ("outlaw"),  national 
robber,  killing  and  plundering  the  foreign  oppressor,  the 
greedy  boiar,  the  Greek  **  leech,"  stealing  the  treasure  of 
the  prince  whenever  he  can :  who  avenge  the  sufferings 
of  their  fellow-peasants,  always  sharing  their  booty  with 
the  needy.  The  haidook's  life  was  a  hard  one ;  tracked 
like  a  mad  wolf  from  wood  to  wood,  his  life  lay  at  his 
rifle's  end ;  often  alone  or  with  a  small  band,  there  was 
no  rest  for  him.  But  the  peasant  loved  him,  helped  him 
on,  and  sang  his  praises.     The  haidook  is  no  more  the 


64  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

noble  adventurer  of  past  ages  who  slaughtered  too,  but 
only  in  honourable  fight ;  the  haidook  killed  like  a  thief, 
from  behind  an  ambush,  or  however  he  could ;  his  idea 
was  that  fair  means  were  only  to  be  used  with  honour- 
able foes ;  not  for  the  cowardly  Greek  "  leech "  that 
sucked  the  blood  of  the  people.  His  ideal  was  only  an 
ideal  of  revenge  for  his  fellow  creatures ;  it  was  the  last 
shadow  of  the  spirit  of  freedom  of  past  ages. 

Codreanu  was  a  haidook,  roaming  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Jassy,  in  the  great  old  forest  of  Bordea.  The 
ghastly  caverns  dug  up  above  the  highway — hiding-places 
of  the  robbers — together  with  the  picturesquely  situated 
inn  of  Shanta,  could  tell  many  a  tale  of  him.  A  legend 
introduces  to  us  the  haidook  in  shepherd's  disguise 
looking  round  for  a  good  horse.  He  meets  a  Mocan,  or 
nomad  shepherd  from  the  mountains,  carrying  salt, 
mounted  on  a  good  horse.  He  proposes  to  buy  the  horse 
from  him,  but  the  mocan  declines  to  sell,  whereupon  he 
simply  takes  the  horse,  and  instead  of  paying — 

"  Eather  cross  yourself,  mocan, 
Say  you  make  a  present  to  Codrean. 

And  on  he  went,  he  went,  he  went, 
Until  the  sun  had  set."  * 

Not  very  chivalrous,  but  convenient;  the  times  of 
chivalry  are  gone  by.  Besides,  the  mocan  was  not  a 
poor  man,  he  could  bear  the  loss.  Codreanu  rode  up  to 
the  fold  on  the  hill ;  the  shepherds  ran  away  in  fright, 
but  Codreanu  only  took  up  a  Iamb,  and — 

"With  his  sorrel-horse  he  starts 
Down  the  valley  to  Shanta,  f 


*  "  Ba-^^i  fa  cruce  mai  mocane, 
Zi  ca-ai  cinstit  pe  Codrean. 

§i  s'a  dus,  s'a  dus,  s'a  dus 
Pan'ce  soarele-a  apus." 

f  "^i  cu  roibul  iar  pleca 
Colo'n  vale  la  §anta. 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  65 

To  Shanta,  the  inn-keeper, 
The  fair  one  with  large  eyes."  * 

The  haidook  and  his  mistress  feast  together ;  he  takes 
wine  without  paying  for  it,  and  then  rides  on  to  Cop6u,\ 
and  takes  his  meal  by  himself.  But  he  is  surrounded  by 
the  Arndutzi.l    A  fight  ensues,  and  he  boastfully  cries  : — 

"Woe  to  you,  0  pagan  robbers — 
I  will  give  you  to  the  dogs, 
For  that  is  all  you  are  worth."  § 

But  the  boastful  threatening  is  in  vain  : — 

"  But  Leonti,  th'  Amaut, 
May  the  earth  swallow  him ! 
Silver  buttons  he  takes  out 
And  loads  his  rifle  with  them ;  , 

He  aims  it  at  Codreanu, 
Darling  Codreanu  is  wounded  I  "  || 

The  fight  goes  on ;  the  popular  singer  follows  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  the  various  turns  of  the  contest — 

"But  Codrean  was  losing  strength — 
On  his  knees  he  fell,  poor  man,ir 


*  La  §anta,  la  cra^mareasa- 
Cu  ochi  mari  de  puica-aleasa." 

f  Copou,  "  wooded  hill,"  at  the  northern  end  of  Jassy,  now  the 
promenade  of  the  townspeople. 

I  Arndutzi  (sing.  Amaut),  Albaneze,  the  prince's  guard,  the  only 
airmy  of  the  principaUties  at  that  time. 

§  "  Alelei,  talhari  pagani 
Cum  o  sa  va  dau  la  cani 
Ca  de-atita  sinte|(i  buni  I  " 

II  "  lar  Leonti,  Arnautul, 
tnghi^i-l'ar  pamantul ! 
Nasturi  de  argint  scotea 
De  'ncarca  o  ^u^anea 
^i  'n  Codrean  o  slobozea 
'Pe  Codrena^  mi-1  ranea  I  " 

IT  "  Dar  Codreanu  tot  slabea 
Pe  genunchi  bietul  cadea 
6 


66  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

On  his  palms  he  went  leaning, 
But  the  police,  alas,  caught  him, 
May  death  only  befall  it  I  "  "^^ 

Codreanu  is  taken  to  Jassy,  before  the  prince.  At  the 
prince's  question  as  to  how  many  Christians  he  has 
killed,  he  thus  gives  an  account  of  his  career  and 
pursuits : — 

"...  Lord,  your  Highness  1 
I  vow  by  the  Holy  Virgin 
Not  a  Christian  have  I  killed 
As  long  as  I  have  roved. 
When  I  came  across  a  Christian 
His  belongings  I  did  share : 
If  I  met  him  with  two  horses 
One  I  took,  one  I  left  him. 
If  I  laid  hand  on  his  purse. 
Half  the  contents  I  took  out, 
But  where  I  saw  the  poor  man, 
My  hatchet  I  hid  away. 
And  gave  him  pocket  money, 
And  a  change  of  attire. 
But  where  I  perceived  the  Greek 
My  soul  was  burning  hot,t 


*  In  palme  se  sprijinea 
^i  potera  mi-1  prindea 
Lega  s'  ar  moartea  de  ea  I " 

f  ".  .  .  Domnule,  Maria-Ta ! 
Jur  pe  Maica-Precista 
Eu  cre^tin  n'am  omorit 
Cat  in  ^ara  am  voinicit. 
Vre-un  cre^tin  de  intalneam 
Averile-i  impar^ieam : 
Cu  doi  cai  de-1  apucam 
Unu-i  dam  unu-i  luam. 
Mana'n  punga  de-i  bagam 
Jumatate-o  de^artam. 
Unde  vedeam  saracul 
Imi  ascundeam  baltagul 
§i-i  dam  bani  de  cheltuiala 
^i  haine  de  primineala. 
Ear  unde  zaream  Grecul 
Mult  imi  ardea  sufletol 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  67 

Till  I  had  his  head  cut  off; 

"When  I  laid  hold  of  his  hair, 

I  brought  him  down  to  the  ground, 

And  his  head  I  then  took  off 

A  promised  gift  to  the  crows  I  "  ''' 

And  then  he  goes  on,  giving  the  prince  unasked-for 
advice,  about  not  listening  to  the  counsels  of  the 
treacherous  Greeks  round  him,  for — 

"The  Greek  is  a  hostile  beast, 
The  Greek's  is  a  venomous  tongue, 
The  Greek  is  a  catching  disease 
Which  penetrates  to  the  bones  I  "  f 

These  were  the  feelings  the  Greek  had  managed  to 
develop  in  the  Eoumanian  people's  soul,  even  before 
the  actual  Greek  rule,  the  Phanariotic  Period  !  Codreanu 
is  sentenced  to  death,  but  somehow  he  manages  to  escape 
— "with  God's  help,"  says  the  popular  poet,  and  on  his 
trusty  ''  sorrel  "  takes  again  to  the  woods. 

"  The  wood  thickens  its  foliage. 
And  thus  conceals  the  brave."  I 

Like  Codreanu,  there  have  been  many  other  haidooks 
whose  names  still  live  in  people's  memory ;  but  in  spite 
of  the  haidooks,  the  fate  of  the  people  grew  darker  and 
darker.  During  the  eighteenth  century,  most  of  the 
large  properties  had  fallen  into  Greek  hands — with  most 
of  the  boiars  accepting  Grecisation  as  part  of  the 
bargain,     too — the     small     properties,     with     but    few 

*  Pan  ce-i  ratezam  capul ; 
In  cap  mana  de-i  puneam 
La  pamant  il  aduceam 
Capa^ina  i-o  taiam 
§i  la  corbi  o  juruiam  I  " 

f  "Grecu-i  fieara  du^manoasa 
Grecu-i  limba  veninoasa 
Grecu-i  boala  lipicioasa 
Ce  patrunde  pan'  la  oase." 

I  "  Codrul  frunza  indese^te 
Pe  voinic  il  mistue^te." 


68  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

exceptions,  disappeared;  the  bulk  of  the  population 
had  fallen  into  servility,  very  much  akin  to  genuine 
slavery. 

The  large  properties  being,  as  well  as  the  small  ones, 
at  the  mercy  of  the  monarch,  documents  show  repeatedly 
that  with  every  change  of  prince,  the  boiars  rush  forward 
to  have  their  deeds  of  property  again  secured  to  them. 
That  the  donors  themselves  did  not  much  trust  their 
successors  as  far  as  the  respect  to  their  gifts  went,  is 
proved  by  the  formulas  of  security,  over  and  over  again 
repeated  in  the  documents,  showering  blasphemies  on 
the  heads  of  those  who  would  annul  the  gift,  and  calling 
blessings  upon  those  who  observed  the  conditions.  For 
the  one  who  would  respect  the  deed :  " .  .  .  him  may 
God  strengthen,  and  save  him  from  all  evil  throughout 
his  reign,  and  may  the  holy  Virgin  be  gracious  to  him 
at  the  moment  of  the  dreaded  and  unavoidable  last 
judgment.  But  if  he  does  not  respect  the  gift,  may 
God  repay  him  in  strict  justice :  here  below,  may  He 
bodily  kill  him  and  bring  him  to  perdition,  and  in  the 
future  judgment  of  his  soul,  may  the  holy  Virgin  be 
against  him  at  the  dreaded  judgment ! " 

The  voyevode  often  deprived  boiars  of  their  lands  to 
give  them  to  favourites  of  his ;  the  boiars,  in  their  turn, 
did  all  they  could  to  despoil  others,  weaker  than  they, 
by  false  documents,  sometimes  often  by  violence,  and 
with  the  support  of  the  monarch.  Sometimes,  by  some 
means  or  other,  and  by  a  good  share  of  luck,  the  despoiled 
got  back  their  land,  but  this  was  reckoned  as  a  marvel, 
due  to  some  superhuman  interference,  so  rarely  did  it 
happen.  Thus  it  is  known  that  a  Phanariot  ruler, 
Alex.  Sutzo,  wishing  to  take  the  land  of  the  town  of 
Targovistea,  sent  his  Arndutzi  to  take  it.  At  this 
unexpected  intrusion  the  startled  townsmen  did  not 
know  what  to  do.  They  resisted  as  well  as  they  could, 
but  were  driven  back,  and  the  Arndutzi  occupied  the 
land.  The  despoiled  townsmen  decided  that  they  would 
die  rather  than  suffer  such  unheard-of  injustice.  Accord- 
ingly, they  all  went  to  church,  rang  the  bells,  and  with 
the  priests  in  their  robes,  they  offered  up  prayers  and 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  69 

took  the  oath  to  hold  together,  and  not  to  let  the  in- 
justice be  perpetrated.  After  that,  men  and  women  to  the 
number  of  some  four  hundred  went  to  Bucharest,  appear- 
ing at  the  prince's  palace,  with  the  traditional  "  burning 
mat,"  rolled  up  and  worn  on  the  head  by  one  of  the  crowd, 
and  with  a  *'  supplication  "  affixed  on  top  of  a  long  stick, 
complaining  of  the  burning  wrong  done  them.  At  court 
they  were  misled  by  sweet,  conciliatory  words  and  induced 
to  return  quietly  home,  leaving  behind  just  a  few  repre- 
sentatives to  settle  the  matter.  But  these  were  subse- 
quently shut  up  in  prison,  and  the  land  taken  by  force,  and 
presented  to  one  of  the  boiars,  the  Vornic  (Justiciary)  X. 
The  townsmen,  seeing  what  their  supplication  to  the 
monarch  had  led  to,  decided  to  make  a  supplication  to 
God.  All  day  long  the  bells  were  tolling,  as  in  times 
of  great  disaster ;  all  went  to  church  and  bitterly  cursed 
the  prince  and  his  counsellors,  while  after  mass,  with 
white  tapers  in  their  hands,  they  came  out  of  church 
and  put  them  out  by  dipping  them  into  tanks  full  of 
pitch  put  there  for  the  purpose,  with  the  curse  :  "  Cursed 
may  be  Vornic  X.,  and  may  his  house  melt  away  like 
this."  And  tradition  tells  that,  indeed,  the  members  of 
that  family  died  soon,  one  after  the  other.  But  the  fact 
is  that  later  on,  after  that  prince's  death,  his  wife  broke 
the  contract  and  restored  the  land  to  the  townsmen. 

It  is  true  also  that  some  princes  tried  to  defend  the 
people  against  the  insatiable  rapacity  of  the  boiars.  At 
the  very  beginning  of  the  Phanariotic  Period,  the  Greek 
voyevode.  Const.  Mavrocordat,  made  a  series  of  reforms, 
by  which  he  hoped  to  better  the  state  of  the  peasants 
in  order  to  prevent  their  total  emigration.  He  suppressed 
serfdom  :  the  peasants  were  free  to  move  from  one  estate 
to  another,  and  were  obliged  to  work  for  the  landowner  only 
twenty-four  days  in  the  year.  On  the  other  hand,  he  sup- 
pressed the  old  indirect  taxation,  in  kind,  leaving  instead 
the  direct  taxation  only,  to  be  paid  by  all  except  the 
boiars,  in  instalments  of  2|  piastres  every  quarter. 
Besides,  the  boiars  had  each,  according  to  his  title,  a 
number  of  peasants  allotted  to  pay  him  the  taxation 
instead  of  paying  it  to  the  treasury.    And  yet  the  boiars 


70  FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

were  not  content,  and  incited  the  Porte  to  overthrow  the 
monarch  ;  but  the  latter  kept  steady,  too,  and  bought 
alternatively  the  thrones  of  both  countries  not  less  than 
ten  times  over.  In  theory,  however,  serfdom  was 
abolished  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
but  not  in  practice.  Towards  the  end  of  the  same 
century,  serfdom  was  suppressed  in  Transylvania  also, 
after  the  revolution  of  Horia,  in  1785,  but  also  only  on 
paper.  In  1846  a  Land  Act  was  voted  by  the  Diet, 
worse,  if  possible,  than  serfdom ;  the  revolution  of  1848 
in  Transylvania  was  partly  owing  to  it. 

The  reforms  of  Mavrocordat  in  the  principahties  were 
afterwards  disposed  of  in  such  a  way  that  no  shadow  of 
them  remained.  With  regard  to  the  twenty-four  days' 
labour,  the  boiars  took  them  all  in  summer,  and,  moreover, 
fixed  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done  in  that  time,  and  in 
such  a  way  that  the  peasant  was  brought  to  work  for  the 
landowner  forty  and  even  eighty  days  in  the  year ;  in  fact 
all  the  summer.  As  for  the  taxation,  the  rulers  themselves 
invented  the  very  ingenious  method  of  multiplying  the 
quarters  to  twenty,  and  sometimes  to  as  many  as  forty 
in  a  year ! 

But  if  the  peasants — at  least  by  far  the  greatest  part 
of  them — have  seen  their  properties  go  into  the  hands 
of  the  large  landowners,  they  have  always  had  the 
implicit  right  of  renting  land  from  the  landlord,  as  much 
as  they  wanted  to,  or  could  till,  for  which  they  paid 
tithes,  but  which  they  tilled  entirely  for  themselves.  Only 
this  private  tillage,  this  farming  of  land  by  the  peasants, 
came  into  conflict  with  the  large  landowners'  interests, 
and  hence  a  tendency  in  the  latter  to  deny  the  peasant 
the  renting  of  land,  and  their  exacting  more  and  more 
labour  for  their  own  needs.  With  every  change  of  reign, 
the  boiars  claimed  from  the  new  voyevode  more  rights 
upon  peasant  labour ;  the  peasants  in  their  turn  claiming 
more  land  and  less  labour.  The  boiars  usually  found 
most  response  to  their  claims ;  but  sometimes  it  happened 
that  some  rare  prince  bent  a  ready  ear  to  the  complaints 
of  the  poor.  One  of  these  was  the  voyevode,  Gregory 
Ghika — whose    name    is    connected    with    the    loss    of 


OP 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL 

Buckovina — who  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century- 
ruled  in  turn  in  both  countries.  This  prince  reduced  the 
days  of  peasant  labour  due  to  the  boiar  from  thirty-six, 
as  they  were  at  that  time,  to  twelve — to  which,  how- 
ever, he  was  obliged  by  the  boiars  to  add  two  more ;  he 
decided  also  that  all  the  boiars'  properties  should  be  divided 
into  three  parts,  two  of  which  were,  as  a  right,  to  be  rented 
to  the  peasants.  But  the  boiars  worked  on  the  Sultan, 
and  the  voyevode  paid  with  his  head  for  his  endeavour 
to  right  old  wrongs.  But  not  many  monarchs  have  been 
high-minded  enough  to  resist  the  rapacity  of  the  boiars, 
and  not  many  have  been  inclined  to  do  it  either.  With 
the  nineteenth  century  a  new  principle  was  established : 
"  The  land  belongs  to  the  boiars ;  the  labourers,  the 
* clacasi,'  are  only  hirers  of  the  land;  their  labour  and 
tithes  are  the  rent  of  it.  The  boiar  gives  only  as  much 
land  as  he  wishes;  and,  after  every  five  years,  the  boiar 
may  turn  out  of  his  village  as  many  labourers  as  he 
likes."     Eviction  in  all  its  crudity  ! 

No  wonder,  then,  that  with  the  nineteenth  century  the 
feelings  of  the  peasants  towards  the  boiars  are  of  the 
fiercest  complexion.  The  modern  haidook  has  nothing 
more  to  do  with  the  Greek  in  revenge  of  national 
wrongs ;  the  aim  of  his  hatred,  and  of  his  rifle,  is  now 
simply  the  cioco'i,  the  parvenu,  as  he  now  calls  the 
boiar,  the  well-to-do,  whatever  his  origin.  Bujor  is  the 
last  type  of  the  popular  haidook  : — 

"Green  leaf  of  feathergrass, 
Bujor  has  come  out  afield, 
The  parvenu  he  puts  in  irons 
To  give  him  pocket  money."  -^ 

He  is  caught,  imprisoned,  and  the  people  weep  over 
him  as  he  lies  in  prison : — 


Frimza  verde  de  nagara, 
A  ie^it  Bujor  in  ^ara, 
Pe  ciocoi  li  baga  'n  fiara 
Sa-i  dea  bani  de  cheltuiala." 


72  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"Without  weapons,  without  sun  I 
Woe  to  you,  beautiful  wood, 
Fine  as  you  are  in  the  summer 
In  winter  you  rot  on  the  ground  1 
Like  you  Bujor  in  the  prison 
Lies  down  on  his  face."  * 

He  is  tried,  he  confesses  his  sins : — 

"Death  to  man  I  have  not  brought 
But,  ciocois'  I've  beaten  many."f 

Asked  about  the  hiding-place  of  his  thefts : — 

"I  hid  them  at  the  trees'  feet, 
To  be  a  help  to  the  poor. 
To  buy  themselves  cows  and  oxen."  J 

He  is  hanged  amid  the  lamentations  of  the  people : — 

"The  poor  weep  with  bitter  woe  1 "  § 

The  race  of  the  haidook,  now  entirely  extinct  in  the 
Carpathians,  seems  still  to  have  active  offshoots  in  the 
Pindus.  Many  of  the  robbers  roving  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  are  said  to  be  Armani — many  of  the  chiefs,  at 
least.  In  a  badly-ruled  country  such  as  Turkey,  such 
"  bravos  "  are  not  at  all  an  anachronism,  and,  after  all, 
a  thief,  who,  in  threatening  your  life  for  the  sake  of  your 
purse,  exposes  his  own  as  well,  seems  a  much  worthier 
character  than  the  fraudulent  merchant  and  usurer  who 

*  "  Far  a  arme,  fara  soare  I 
Oliolio  codru  frumos 
Cit  e^ti  vara  de  frumos 
larna  putreze^ti  tu  josi 
Ca  tine  Bujor  in  gros 
Sta  culcat  cu  fa|ia'  njos." 

f  "Mort  de  om  eu  n'am  facut 
Dar  ciocoi  mul^i  am  batut." 

I  "Le-am  ascuns  pe  la  copaci 
De  ajutor  la  cei  saraci 
Sa-fi  cumpere  boi  §i  vaci." 

§  "Plang  saraci  cu  jale-amara." 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  73 

robs  you  on  the  sly,  without  the  sHghtest  expenditure  of 
courage  or  strength.  It  is,  of  course,  a  great  pity  that 
travelling  in  the  Pindus  should  be  made  so  difficult 
by  these  robbers,  but  the  traveller  knows  what  awaits 
him,  and  takes  his  measures  accordingly.  As  you  cannot 
travel  through  Eussia  and  talk  of  liberty,  so  you  cannot 
travel  through  Turkey  without  an  escort.  In  Free 
Koumania  and  all  the  Carpathian  region,  the  haidook 
type  has  degenerated  into  the  common  robber,  who 
plunders — for  his  own  profit — rich  and  poor,  wicked  and 
good — a  type  also  disappearing  nowadays  almost  entirely, 
leaving  behind  just  the  common  vagabond,  plundering 
the  poor  rather  than  the  well-guarded  rich. 


Ill 

As  to  the  fate  of  the  poor,  apparently  because  it  could 
not  become  worse,  it  began  in  time  slowly  to  turn 
towards  improvement.  After  1821  the  national  rulers 
were  anxious  to  do  better  than  their  predecessors.  Now 
and  then  better  feelings  make  themselves  felt  among  the 
ruling  classes,  especially  with  the  younger  generation  of 
men,  who  at  that  time  received  their  education  in  Paris, 
the  centre  of  liberalism  and  freedom  in  those  times. 

The  peasants'  question  began  to  be  handled  with  more 
and  more  interest  in  some  quarters.  The  revolution  of 
1848  was  not  only  political,  it  was  a  social  revolution 
as  well.  The  proclamation  of  the  **  Provisional  Govern- 
ment "  declared  the  peasant  master  of  the  land  he 
occupied — as  hirer  till  now — and  free  from  labour.  A 
commission  was  accordingly  instituted,  composed  of  boiars 
and  peasants  to  settle  their  differences.  The  peasants 
claimed  the  land  in  return  for  pecuniary  compensation ; 
the  boiars  objected  strongly,  on  the  ground  that  the 
peasants  had  no  means  wherewith  to  pay.  As  an 
answer,  one  of  the  peasants  is  said  to  have  thrust 
forward  his  sinewy,  sunburnt  arm  and  replied :  *'  These 
arms,  which  for  centuries  have  been  feeding  you,  these 
arms  will  work  with  increased  industry,  when  that  will 


74  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

mean  the  paying  for  our  liberation,  when  we  shall  be 
masters  of  our  soil  and  of  our  arms."  The  Eusso- 
Turkish  intervention  prevented  any  further  discussion. 
The  immediate  results  of  1848  were  more  favourable  in 
Transylvania.  Imperial  ordinances  regulated  the  giving 
of  land  to  the  peasants  and  the  paying  of  an  indemnity 
to  the  noble  landlords,  but  the  weakening  of  Austria  in 
1866  brought  it  all  to  nought. 

Thenceforth  things  were  in  a  period  of  awakening; 
the  peasants'  question  was  stirred  deeper  and  deeper; 
their  claims  to  the  land  took  an  ever  more  definite 
shape ;  some  change  was  in  the  air ;  that  the  peasants 
must  get  the  soil,  some  way  or  other,  was  certain.  And 
need  of  land  was  the  more  stringent,  since  the  treaty 
of  Adrianople  (1829)  had  opened  the  commerce  of  the 
principalities  to  Western  Europe.  Agricultural  products 
were  more  required  and  better  paid  for;  agriculture  drove 
sheep  and  cattle  breeding  into  the  background  altogether, 
to  become  the  staple  bread  winning  of  the  peasant.  But 
the  very  same  reason  made  the  boiars  so  much  the  more 
loath  to  part  with  the  land,  and  so  much  the  more  rapa- 
cious about  peasant  labour,  without  which  the  commercial 
advantages,  won  by  treaty  of  1829,  were  of  no  avail  to 
them.  The  giving  of  land  to  peasants  had  been  proposed 
ever  since  1848,  on  the  understanding  that  the  clacasi 
(the  labouring  peasants),  should  get  all  the  land  they  used 
to  rent  from  the  bo'iar.  Some  provident  boiars  took 
measures  in  consequence.  Some  of  them  presented  their 
clacashi  with  their  liberty,  they  gave  up  any  claim  on 
their  labour.  This  was  very  fine,  and  the  peasants  were 
full  of  gratitude,  but  when  the  Land  Act  came,  it  found 
them  free  men,  not  clacashi,  and,  consequently,  with  no 
claim  on  the  land.  Other  boiars,  again,  turned  out  their 
peasants  by  cruel  treatment;  these  ran  away  into  the 
outskirts  of  towns  mostly ;  the  new  law  found  them  free 
of  labour,  and  they  got  no  land. 

At  last  the  bright  day  of  1864  came.  The  first  prince 
of  United  Roumania,  Cuza,  tried,  in  accordance  with  his 
ministers  and  Parliament,  to  bring  about  the  reforms  so 
sorely  needed  by  the  country.    But  the  great  majority  of 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  75 

the  boiars  were  still  against  the  giving  of  land  to  peasants, 
which  the  monarch  seeing,  he  decided  to  accomplish  his 
reforms  by  a  coup  d'etat.  In  August,  1864,  Prince  Cuza 
declared  by  a  decree  that  the  peasants  were  henceforth 
proprietors.  In  his  Proclamation,  he  recognised  the 
peasants  as  free  proprietors  of  the  land  of  which  they 
only  had  been  the  occupiers  till  then.  The  land  was 
theirs,  the  peasants  had  to  pay  nothing  for  it.  What 
they  had  to  pay  for  was  their  labour,  which  was  implicitly 
recognised  as  a  right  of  the  boiars,  and  in  order  to  be 
freed  of  this  labour  the  peasants  had  to  pay  an  indemnity 
to  the  landowners.  The  peasants  became  masters  of  the 
stretches  of  land  they  formerly  used  only  to  hire,  and  of 
which  three  categories  were  made,  according  to  the  state 
of  wealth  of  the  peasants  at  that  moment.  They 
remained  free  of  any  labour  obligation  towards  the 
proprietor,  paying  it  off  in  money,  also  in  three  varied 
categories.  On  the  other  hand,  the  large  landowners 
remained  also  untroubled  masters  of  their  land,  the 
peasants  having  no  claim  whatever  upon  it.  Thus  in  1864 
some  1,500,000  hectares  of  land  were  allocated  to  some 
407,000  new  landowners,  small  landowners,  besides  the 
remnant  of  old  peasant  landowners,  the  rdzdshi,  or 
moshneni,  who  were  found  to  be  still  in  existence,  to 
the  number  of  some  117,000,  owning  still  among  them- 
selves an  amount  of  land  equal  to  that  newly  divided 
among  the  clacashi. 

At  the  time  of  the  Land  Act  of  1864,  the  south  of 
Bassarabia  belonged  again  to  Roumania — restored  by  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  1856 — so  that  the  new  Act  was  put  in 
force  there  too.  When  Eussia  took  it  back  again,  she 
somehow  accepted  the  new  state  of  things,  the  more  so 
as  the  situation  of  the  Russian  peasants  themselves  had 
been  improved  by  the  suppression  of  serfdom  in  Russia, 
1861-69.  Thus  the  economic  fate  of  the  Roumanian 
peasants  in  Bassarabia  was  nearly  similar  to  that  of 
Free  Roumania. 

With  all  its  drawbacks,  with  all  the  vices  of  its  appli- 
cation, the  Land  Act  of  1864  was  of  great  importance  in 
the  peasants'  life,  and  the  name  of  Cuza  is  a  legendary 


76  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

one  to  the  present  day.  There  are  peasants  who  won't 
believe  that  he  is  dead,  but  strongly  hope  that  some  day 
he  will  come  to  give  full  effect  to  his  law,  and  give  land 
to  all  peasants  who  need  it.  Why,  the  name  of  Cuza  has 
even  been  used  as  an  electioneering  resource  by  too  able 
candidates  hunting  after  a  seat  in  Parliament !  But  not 
long  after,  one  had  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  if 
something  had  indeed  been  done  by  the  Act  of  1864, 
much  more  remained  to  be  done.  There  were  very 
many  landless  peasants  still ;  and  there  were,  moreover, 
peasants  having  too  little  land  for  their  needs.  At  the 
time  of  the  war  of  independence,  before  the  troops 
crossed  the  Danube,  they  were  addressed  in  terms  fit  to 
arouse  their  courage,  and  land  was  promised  them,  as 
in  the  happy  times  of  Stephen  the  Great.  And  they 
fought  bravely,  these  young  sons  of  Roumania,  and 
independence  was  won.  But  promises  had  to  be  kept 
also,  and  in  1879  a  new  Act  was  voted  by  the  Roumanian 
Parliament,  giving  land  to  newly-married  peasants.  Some 
48,000  men  got  property  by  this  law,  two-thirds  of  which 
went  to  constitute  new  communes  with  new  villages. 

But  more  land  w^as  required  still,  there  being  some 
79,000  peasant  families  without  land ;  peasants  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  petitioned  for  land,  the  governments 
in  their  turn  promised  it,  but  all  to  no  effect.  In  1880, 
as  there  was  a  talk  of  new  distributions  of  land,  peasants 
came  to  Bucharest  from  the  very  northernmost  districts 
of  Moldavia  to  ask  for  land,  having  been  told  that  they 
could  get  it — and  they  had  come  on  foot  all  the  way  down, 
and  their  journey  had  lasted  one  whole  month  !  For  a 
while,  however,  nothing  more  was  done ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  situation  of  the  peasants  went  from  bad  to  worse. 
Proprietors  and  farmers  did  all  they  could  to  oppress 
the  peasants ;  statesmen  of  the  highest  rank  have  had  to 
recognise  in  Parliament  that  the  "  communal  authorities, 
mayor,  notary,  and  the  rest,  instead  of  being  friends  and 
guardians  of  peasants,  had  only  been  their  oppressors  and 
despoilers.'*  It  has  ever  been  difficult  for  the  peasant  to 
get  justice,  and  even  when  they  could  obtain  it,  only  an 
indifferent  ear  was  lent  to  their  complaints  :  **  Why,  that 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL  77 

is  the  way  with  peasants,  they  always  complain !  '*  Many 
large  proprietors  found  the  way  to  lay  hands  on  the  little 
land  of  the  peasants ;  and  great  abuses  were  committed 
with  regard  to  labour.  In  1866  an  Act  for  **  agricultural 
conventions  "  was  voted,  entitling  the  peasant  to  sell  his 
labour  for  five  years  in  advance  at  the  landowner's  price, 
giving,  moreover,  to  the  latter  the  right  to  enforce  manu 
militari,  the  execution  of  that  labour,  with  the  exception, 
however,  of  two  days  in  the  week,  Friday  and  Saturday, 
which  had  to  be  respected  for  the  peasant's  own  labour  in 
his  own  field.  Instead  of  that,  the  peasant  was  compelled 
by  the  landowner,  supported  by  the  authorities,  to  work 
for  him  all  the  week  round,  being  shut  up  on  Sundays, 
into  the  bargain,  in  order  that  he  might  not  run  away. 
The  Eoumanian  peasant  is  extremely  patient,  and  has 
a  wonderful  power  of  bearing  up,  but  everything  has 
an  end,  and,  *' when  the  knife  has  reached  to  the  bone," 
he  won't  stand  it  any  longer.  In  1888  a  peasant  rising 
took  place.  It  was  considered  very  dangerous,  and  put 
down  with  great  display  of  violence  and  cruelty,  although 
single  cases  have  clearly  shown  that  it  might  have  been 
just  as  easily  quieted  down  by  peaceful  means.  But  in 
such  matters  excess  of  zeal  is  more  or  less  unavoidable. 
It  is  none  the  less  true  that  rulers  of  both  political 
parties — Conservatives  as  well  as  Liberals — have  agreed 
that  the  peasants  were  in  the  right,  that  they  had, 
indeed,  only  too  long  been  wronged  and  oppressed  on 
all  sides,  and  that  something  ought  to  be  done  for  them. 
In  1889  a  new  Act  was  voted,  allowing  the  sale  of  the 
State-land  in  small  lots  to  the  peasants — the  smaller  of 
them  at  least.  In  this  way,  some  1,850,000  hectares 
have  been  disposed  of  in  favour  of  the  peasants. 

To-day,  of  the  13,135,000  hectares  constituting  the 
whole  property  of  the  Eoumanian  soil,  some  4,400,000 
constitute  the  small  and  middle  property,  of  some 
889,287  peasants;  the  large  property,  of  some  4,061 
large  landowners,  is  made  up  of  more  than  5 J  millions, 
whilst  the  State  owns  still  over  2J  millions,  and  the 
domain  of  the  Crown  amounts  to  over  130,000  hectares. 

But  there  are  still  landless  peasants ;    and  there  are 


78  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

peasants  who  have  only  very  little  land — through  division 
among  inheritors — too  little  land,  indeed,  to  live  upon. 
In  this  case  are  very  many  of  the  old  rdzdshi,  the  old 
nobility  of  this  country,  the  rdzdshi  whose  wealth 
consists  of  "a  span  of  land,  with  a  bagful  of  papers," 
and  who  only  too  often  have  reason  to  sing : — 

"  May  fire  burn  the  '  razashie  '  I 
I  thought  it  was  nobility 
But  it  is  pure  poverty  I "  *  .  .  . 

The  peasant  land  question  is  by  no  means  concluded ; 
the  process  of  giving  them  land  has  not  reached  its  end, 
and,  moreover,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  with  the  progress 
of  agricultural  methods,  there  will  be  plenty  of  land  for 
all,  and  for  a  much  larger  population  than  nowadays. 

Roumania  has  also  extensive  forests,  common  property 
of  all  in  old  times,  but  the  law  of  1864  suppressed  any 
claim  of  the  peasants  on  them.  Except  some  321,000 
hectares  of  woods  owned  by  the  rdzashi,  no  peasant 
possesses  such.  Of  a  total  of  nearly  3,000,000  hectares 
of  woods,  the  State  owns  about  half,  two-thirds  of  which 
are  more  or  less  under  exploitation,  the  remnant  being 
as  yet  untouched;  the  rest  is  private  property.  The 
Roumanian  peasant  is  very  fond  of  the  woods :  he  has 
songs  for  almost  every  kind  of  tree,  but  all  connected 
with  the  time  when  the  woods  were  his  hiding-place 
and  his  beloved  abode.  The  oak  is  *'  his  brother,"  the 
elm  "  his  first  cousin  "  ;  he  scorns  the  conceited  lofty 
poplar,  and  calls  down  blessings  on  the  "broad-leaved 
lime,"  sheltering  him  in  time  of  flight,  and  giving  him 
a  pleasant  shade  in  the  sultry  days  of  summer.  His 
desertion  of  the  wood-roaming  life  he  deplores  in  music 
and  song : — 

"  I  go  off,  the  wood  remains, 
The  leaf  is  weeping  after  me ;  f 

*  "  Ard'  o  focul  raza^ie  I 

Eu  chiteam  ca-i  boierie 

^i-i  numai  o  saracie  I "  .  .  . 
f  *'  Eu  ma  due  codrul  ramine. 

Flange  frunza  dupa  mine; 


PEASANT  AND   SOIL 


79 


No  one  else  is  there  to  weep 
For  I  have  done  no  good  deed, 
And  if  I  have  done  some  wrong 
I  alone  shall  bear  for  it."* 


Lento. 


=t: 


Eu 


ma      due 


$ 


nzt: 


22: 


CO    -    drul 

1=F 


ra  -    ml  -  ne 


S3 


'm:l0   S- 


PUn-ge  frun-za  du-pa  mi  -  ne    Tra-la-la  la-la-la-la-la-la  -  la, 


P 


T^- 


■#    rr 


i 


:#„  #    tf-jj: 


Al-tulnumaiplan-ge    ni-me,  Tra-la-la    la        la  -  la. 


*  Altul  nu  mai  pldnge  nime 
Ca  n'  am  facut  nici  un  bine, 
^i  dac'  am  facut  vr  'un  ran 
Singur  mi-l'  oiu  trage  eu  1 " 


CHAPTEE  II 

THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE 

TYPES  AND  COSTUMES 


From  the  very  birth  of  the  Koumanian  nation  there 
probably  have  existed  class  differences  in  Dacia,  just 
those  that  existed  in  the  Koman  Empire  at  large. 
During  the  thousand  years  of  invasions  that  ensued, 
when  the  population  which  remained  in  Dacia  was 
driven  into  the  highest  recesses  of  the  mountains,  and 
was  obliged  to  rely  upon  pastoral  life,  those  differences 
may  be  fairly  believed  to  have  been  obliterated,  if  they 
still  existed,  and  little  by  little  patriarchal  habits  set  in 
with  the  new  ways  of  life.  Social  equality  may  well  be 
assumed  to  have  reigned  in  those  remote,  simple  times. 
But  as  time  went  on  some  of  the  herdsmen  would  begin 
to  rise  above  their  fellow  labourers.  Whilst  some  of 
them  went  on  still  pasturing  their  own  sheep,  cows,  or 
pigs,  others  managed  to  have  the  work  done  by  other 
herdsmen.  Whilst  these  remained  with  their  coarse 
sheepskins  and  neglected  appearance,  the  others  contrived 
to  improve  themselves  and  to  pay  more  and  more  atten- 
tion to  cleanliness  and  dress.  This  difference  went  on 
growing.  When  the  shepherds  began  to  settle  down  and 
to  till  the  ground,  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  richer  ones 
managed  to  lay  hands  on  larger  portions  of  land ;  others 
in  poorer  conditions  associated  to  take  common  posses- 
sion  of   some  other  land,   on   absolutely  equal   terms; 

80 


c  page  80. 


Shepherds. 


{Photo,  D.  Cadere. 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    81 

others,  again,  remained  behind  to  mind  the  pigs.  Thus, 
when  later  on  the  Roumanian  nation  came  to  the 
first  dim  understanding  of  the  notion  of  a  state,  a  social 
distinction  practically  existed  already  among  the  Rou- 
manians, and  that  distinction  was  based — like  any  social 
distinction  at  its  beginning — on  difference  of  wealth.  It 
is  notorious  that  the  Hungarians  found  a  nobility  in 
Transylvania,  which  nobility  merged  into  the  Hungarian 
nobility  ;  those  who  did  not  care  to  merge  went  away  and 
founded  Valachia  and  Moldavia.  There  they  found  a 
nobility  too,  whom  they  took  to  their  bosom — except 
those  who  may  have  resisted,  and  had  either  to  go  away 
or  to  submit.  The  oldest  recollections  of  this  nobility 
may  have  had  their  roots  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  the 
first  Bulgarian  Empire ;  at  any  rate,  it  was  reconstructed 
according  to  the  model  of  the  Bulgarian  organisation 
beyond  the  Danube,  whence  the  whole  political  and 
social  scheme  was  taken,  modelling  itself  on  the  Byzan- 
tine institutions.  The  Roumanian  nobles  adopted  the 
title  of  Bo'iars  (from  the  Slav  Boljar) ,  and  were  addressed 
with  the  appellation  of  jupdn,  which  was  as  much  as 
*'  sir,"  or  perhaps  "  my  lord  "  ;  the  women  were  jupdnese 
("  ladies  "),  and  the  young  women  jupdnitze.  Those 
nobles  were  proprietors  of  land,  large  or  small,  and  they 
all  lived  on  their  lands.  Below  them  were  the  peasants, 
of  whom  a  large  number  were  also  landowners,  the 
rdzdshi  or  moshneni,  of  whom  the  prince  author, 
Demetrius  Cantimir  (Prince  of  Moldavia  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century),  says,  that  he  does  not  know 
where  to  place  them,  at  the  head  of  the  peasants  or  at 
the  tail  of  the  boiars.  The  poorest  peasants  seem  still  to 
have  had  their  land  property  in  common,  and  it  is  not  in 
the  least  to  be  wondered  at  if  every  peasant  had  land 
when  we  know  that  there  was  so  much  of  it,  and  that  the 
founders  of  the  principalities,  the  first  voyevodes,  found 
such  a  large  amount  of  waste  land. 

In  what  consisted  the  difference  between  these  boiars 
and  peasants  ?  As  far  as  documents  and  human  memory 
can  account  for  it,  the  difference  was  only  a  material  one; 
the  difference  of  all   times   between  the  more  or  less 

7 


82  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

refined  rich  man  and  the  more  or  less  rough  poor  man. 
There  was  no  written  law,  and  custom  equalised  all. 
There  was  no  right  of  firstborn  and  no  indivision  of  pro- 
perty for  the  boiars — boiars  or  peasant's  children  had 
equal  rights  in  their  parent's  inheritance.  There  was  no 
dispensation  from  taxation  for  the  boiar,  who,  like  the 
peasant,  paid  the  tithe  and  all  the  indirect  taxes,  the 
latter  being,  however,  alone  subject  to  the  direct  tax, 
the  hir.  There  was  no  difference  in  the  military  service, 
which  everybody  was  obliged  to  perform. 

In  those  times  there  seems  to  have  been  plenty  of  free 
intercourse  and  amicable  feeling  between  rich  and  poor ; 
the  rich  had  not  yet  become  egoistic  and  greedy ;  the 
poor  had  not  found  room  for  envy  and  hatred  in  their 
hearts.  Moreover,  there  seems  to  have  existed  a  good 
deal  of  esteem  among  the  poor  for  the  rich.  The  latter, 
being  in  a  better  material  position,  could  afford  to  culti- 
vate much  more  freely  those  moral  qualities  which,  more 
or  less  dimly,  have  always  formed  the  groundwork  of  the 
Roumanian  soul — probably  of  the  human  soul  at  large  ; 
he  could  afford  to  be  more  generous,  more  high-minded, 
wiser  even,  as  he  had  more  time  to  give  to  thinking  than 
the  toiling  poor ;  he  had  to  bow  his  head  to  nobody,  and 
got  into  the  habit  of  not  bending  it  at  all.  Those  superior 
qualities,  expected  to  spring  up  in  well-to-do  beings,  were 
readily  acknowledged  by  popular  fancy,  and  duly  admired 
in  the  outpourings  of  the  poetical  imagination.  In  one 
of  the  finest  ballads  collected  in  old  Moldavia,  the  popular 
poet  draws  a  picture  of  a  boiar  of  those  times,  **  Toma 
Alimosh"  : — 

"There,  on  the  ridge  of  those  hills, 
By  the  ditch  with  the  five  hazels 
Shooting  out  from  a  single  trunk, 
Like  five  brothers  from  one  mother,* 


*  "  Colo'n  zarea  celor  culmi 
La  groapa  cu  cinci  aluni 
Ce  rasar  dintr'o  tulpina 
Ca  cinci  fra^i  de  La  o  muma 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    83 

Sits  down  Toma  Alimosh 
A  boiar  from  the  lowland."  * 


Not  far  from  him  his  horse,  tied  to  a  silver  tether, 
feeds  on  the  grass,  while  the  boiar  partakes  also  of  a  light 
meal ;  he  eats  and  drinks,  but  complains  of  being  alone, 
and  having  nobody  to  drink  with  :  the  hospitable  boiar  is 
used  to  cheerful  companions  at  his  table.  Hopeless  of  a 
human  partner,  he  will  drink  to  the  trees  on  the 
height : — 

"I  will  drink  to  the  elms, 
The  giants  of  the  heights, 
For  they  are  ready  to  answer 
With  gay  whisper  of  the  leaves, 
And  in  the  air  they  will  swing 
And  to  me  they  will  bow."  f 

But  as  he  says  this  he  hears  the  neighing  of  a  horse ; 
he  rises  slowly,  as  becomes  a  dignified  boiar  and  a  fearless 
man,  and  catches  sight  of  a  man  approaching  on  horse- 
back ;  it  is  Mane,  the  ho^oman,  the  rough  thief  in  rough 
attire : — 

"The  thief,  tall,  with  heavy  mane, 
Like  a  heavy,  leafy  oak. 
It  was  Mane,  the  broad-shouldered, 
With  a  big  and  woolly  sheepskin — 
The  sheepskin  turned  inside  out,  | 


*  ^ade  Toma — AHmos 
Boier  din  ^ara  de  jos." 

f  "  Inchina-voiii  ulmilor 
Urie^ii  culmilor, 
Ca  sint  gata  sa-mi  raspunda 
Cu  freamat  voios  de  frunza 
^i  'n  vazduh  s'  or  clatina 
$i  mie  s'  or  inchina." 

I  "Ho^omanul  nalt,  pletos 
Cum  e  un  stejar  stufos: 
Era  Mane  eel  spatos 
Cu  cojoc  mare  mi|ios 
Cu  cojoc  intors  pe  dos 


84  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

And  with  his  unpeeled  club, 
Roughly  hewn  with  the  hatchet."* 

He  advances  upon  the  boiar  and  addresses  him  rudely, 
seeking  a  quarrel : — 

"...  Well,  then,  Toma  Alimosh, 
You  boiar  from  the  lowland, 
Why  do  you  tread  on  our  lands 
And  crush  down  our  hayfields  ?  "  f 

But  the  good-natured  boi'ar  does  not  lose  temper ;  he 
bears  no  ill-will,  and  asks  his  rough  fellow-man  to  drink 
with  him : — 

"But  the  boiar  Alimosh 
Gives  him  the  gourd  with  red  wine: 
— Your  health,  O  brother  Mane  1 
Throw  your  anger  behind  you. 
Let  us  drink  an  equal  share."  | 

The  thief  takes  the  drink  with  his  left  hand,  while  with 
his  right  he  draws  his  dagger  and  treacherously  strikes 
the  unsuspicious  boiar  in  the  stomach,  and  then,  like  a 
coward,  takes  to  flight.  But  the  boiar,  with  an  impreca- 
tion on  the  traitor  who  has  "  robbed  him  of  his  days," 
rises  as  well  as  he  can,  presses  in  his  stomach,  girds  him- 
self tight  with  his  broad  girdle,  and  mounts,  addressing 
his  horse : — 


*  ^i  cu  ghioaga  nestrujita 
Numai  din  topor  cioplita." 

f  ".  .  .  Aleil  Toma  Alimo^ 
Boier  din  ^ara  de  jos 
Ce  ne  calci  mo^iile 
^i  ne  strici  fine^ele  ?  " 

I  "Boier  Toma  Alimo^, 
li  da  plosca  cu  vin  ro§ 
— Sa  traie^ti  Mane  fartate  1 
Da-^i  maniea  dupa  spate 
Ga  sa  bem  in  jumatate." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    85 

"'Woe  to  us,  dear  little  bay, 
Woe,  oh  my  own  brave  bay  1 
If  you  could  in  your  old  age 
Go  as  you  could  in  your  youth  I ' 
The  bay's  bright  eye  lit  up, 
He  neighed,  and  thus  gave  reply : 
— *  Take  my  mane  and  leap  on  me, 
And  do  hold  fast  to  the  end. 
That  I  may  show  in  old  age 
What  I  was  worth  in  my  youth  ! '  "  * 

And  on  and  on  they  storm  away,  the  old  boiar  still 
urging  his  horse  : — 

"Halloo,  dear  little  bay, 
Halloo,  0  my  brave  bay, 
Lay  yourself  on  the  road 
Like  the  grass  on  the  field 
To  the  blast  of  the  wind  I  "  f 

The  thief  is  overtaken,  and  the  brave  boiar,  in  the  very 
rush  of  the  flight,  cuts  him  in  two  pieces,  punishing  him 
thus  for  the  treacherous  deed,  for  which  the  popular 
singer  finds  no  words  strong  enough : — 

"You  have  struck  me  villainously 
And  run  away  like  a  coward  I  "  | 


*  "'Alelei  murgule^  mic 
Alei  murgul  men  voinicl 
De-ai  putea  la  batrane^e 
Cum  puteai  la  tinere^e  ! ' 
Murgul  ochi  '§i  aprindea 
Necheza  ^i  raspundea: 
— 'Eata  coama,  sai  pe  mine 
§i  de-acum  te  ^ine  bine 
Sa-^i  arat  la  batrane^e 
Ce  puteam  la  tinere^e  I '  " 

f  "  Alelei  murgule^  mic  1 
Alei  murgul  men  voinic  1 
Asterne-te  drumului 
Ca  ^i  iarba  cimpului 
La  suflarea  vantului  I  " 

I  "Taiatu-m'ai  talhare^te 
Fugitu-mi-ai  mi§ele§te  1 " 


86  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

says  the  boiiar.  But  his  strength  is  at  an  end ;  he  is 
dying.  He  asks  his  horse  to  carry  him  back  under  the 
high  elms,  there  to  dig  him  a  grave  with  his  hoofs,  and 
lay  him  down  with  his  teeth : — 

"The  elms  will  swing, 
The  leaves  will  fall 
And  cover  my  body."  * 

In  the  oldest  times  the  boiars  used  to  live  on  their 
properties ;  the  voyevode  had  at  his  court  a  number  of 
officials  for  his  private  service  and  that  of  the  State,  but 
these  occupied  only  a  lower  rank  in  the  hierarchy  of 
boiardom,  as  is  obvious  from  the  documents  signed  by 
the  boiars,  in  which  the  untitled  boiars — those  living  in 
the  country — occupied  the  place  of  honour,  immediately 
after  the  sovereign,  whilst  the  boiars  fulfilling  any  func- 
tion, and  provided  with  a  title,  came  only  second,  each  in 
the  order  allowed  by  the  importance  of  his  office.  For, 
although  the  monarch  was  absolute  in  the  gravest 
State  matters,  giving  of  judgments,  &c.,  he  used,  never- 
theless, to  call  a  council  of  the  boiars,  the  Divan,  to  take 
advice  from  them,  though  he  was  under  no  obligation  to 
follow  it.  But  there  were  boiars  who  never  went  to 
Court,  and  that  for  many  a  reason ;  a  comparative 
poverty,  perhaps,  preventing  them  from  competing  with 
other  wealthier  boiars  in  that  state  of  life ;  perhaps 
through  shyness ;  or  perhaps  independence  of  character, 
unwillingness  to  make  the  curtsey  and  to  kiss  hands — all 
this  may  well  have  kept  them  away,  vegetative  as  they 
were,  so  to  speak,  in  their  country  seats.  There,  of 
course,  not  keeping  in  touch  with  capital  and  Court,  they 
must  have  remained  rather  behind  the  time  in  fashion 
and  refined  courtly  usages ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  right 
of  the  firstborn,  preserving  property  undivided,  has  never 
existed  with  the  Roumanians,  hence  the  children  became, 
as  a  rule,  even  poorer  than  the  parents,  so  that  rank  was 

*  "Ulmii  ca  s'  or  clatina 
Frunza  ca  s'a  scutura 
Trupul  ca  mi-a  astupa." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    87 

still  harder  to  keep  up.  The  succeeding  generations  of 
these  boiars  became  sometimes  very  poor,  the  more  so 
that  their  retirement  made  the  rehabilitation  of  their 
properties,  through  donations  from  the  voyevode,  impos- 
sible, but  they  were  still  recognised  as  boiars,  under  the 
title  of  hoieri  de  tara  (**  country  boiars,"  or  "rustic 
boiars").  In  the  long  run  these  rustic  boiars,  with  pro- 
perties that  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  fell  to  the  rank  of 
mere  rdzdshi,  to  share  afterwards  their  varying  fate,  and 
fall  lower  still  in  the  succeeding  generations,  into  the 
dark  state  of  serfdom. 

We  have  seen  that  means  have  existed  even  for  the 
rdzdshi  of  reconstructing  their  lost  properties,  but  these 
facts  were  rather  accidents  in  the  regular  stream  of  down- 
fall, which  accidents  became  scarcer  and  scarcer  for  boiar 
as  well  as  for  peasant,  in  proportion  as  the  domains  of  the 
monarch  decreased,  to  disappear  at  last  altogether.  But 
the  voyevode  had  it  in  his  power  to  give  not  only  pro- 
perty, but  nobility  as  well.  The  legend  of  the  Aprodul 
Purice  goes  back  to  the  time  of  Stephen  the  Great.  In 
one  of  the  battles  of  this  warlike  prince  he  had  his  horse 
killed ;  one  of  his  soldiers,  the  Aprod  (a  Court  servant), 
Purice,  gave  him  his  horse.  But  the  great  monarch 
seems  to  have  been  only  a  small  man,  so  that  he  was 
unable  to  mount  off  the  ground,  on  which  Purice  said  : 
"  My  lord,  allow  me  to  stoop  and  make  of  my  back  a  little 
mound,  stepping  on  which,  you  may  easily  mount ;  "  and 
on  mounting  the  prince  said,  "  My  poor  Purice,  if  I  and 
you  come  both  safe  out  of  this  war,  I  will  change  your 
name  of  Purice  (flea)  to  that  of  Movild  "  (mound).  And  so 
it  came  about.  After  the  victorious  war  the  aprod  was 
made  a  boiar  with  the  name  of  Movila,  and  became  the 
root  of  a  family  which  one  century  later  even  ascended 
the  throne.  In  this  way  many  a  common  person  may 
have  risen  to  the  noble  rank  of  boiar,  but  as  to  the 
worthiness  of  the  selected  we  may  be  allowed  to  have  our 
doubts,  as  this  promotion  was  entirely  at  the  monarch's 
caprice.  That  is  also  the  reason  that  the  rewarding  of  a 
really  meritorious  man  with  a  title  of  nobility  appears 
such  a  doubtful  distinction ;  if  the  title  had  always  been 


88  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  outcome  of  merit  there  would  be  nothing  to   say 
against  it. 

Thus  peasants  could  sometimes  become  bo'iars,  and 
boiars  could  still  more  easily  become  peasants  by  the 
division  of  property.  But  the  descent  was  not  reserved 
to  "rustic  boiars"  only;  it  could  just  as  easily  befall 
boiars  of  the  highest  position  and  wealth.  Thus,  as 
already  seen,  the  boiars  began  very  early  to  divide  into 
parties,  supporting  this  or  that  pretender  to  the  throne. 
The  successful  monarch  always  had  rewards  for  his  sup- 
porters and  punishments  for  his  opponents,  consisting 
chiefly  in  gifts  and  confiscations  of  land  respectively.  In 
proportion  as  the  voyevode's  domain  (the  source  of  rewards) 
diminished,  the  strife  and  struggle  between  the  boiars 
became  keener ;  when  the  prince  had  no  more  land  to 
give  away  he  began  to  reward  his  supporters  with  courtly 
functions.  Then  it  was  that  the  official  places  increased 
so  much  in  value  that  they  were  more  sought  after, 
because  they  conferred  a  title  which  brought  to  the 
bearer  various  revenues  and  privileges  ;  these  posts  were 
called  hoierii,  increased  with  the  demand,  and,  although 
the  voyevode  needlessly  multiplied  those  functions,  they 
were  still  never  sufficient  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the 
boiars  for  more  or  less  lucrative  distinctions.  The 
rivalries  and  intriguing  went  on  increasing,  but  in  the 
long  run  the  voyevode  took  from  the  Turks  the  habit  of 
using  his  boiars  as  he  himself  was  used  by  the  Turks ;  as 
the  Turks  could  at  will  expel  the  voyevode  by  a  simple 
decree  of  ma'zul,  so  the  voyevode  dismissed  the  boiars 
from  their  functions,  sending  them  from  Court  away  into 
rustic  obscurity,  where  they  were  designated  under  the 
name  of  boiars  mazili.  These  ex-boiars  fell  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  rustic  boiars,  to  sink  with  them  as  low  as  fate 
would  bring  them.  Sometimes,  no  doubt,  the  disgrace  of 
the  mazil  boiars  was  transitory,  but  often,  also,  they  were 
never  able  to  rise  again. 

The  natural  outcome  of  all  this  was  that  the  social 
ladder  of  the  Roumanian  people  has  been  a  very  much 
trodden  one,  up  and  down,  and  that  it  would  be  hard 
work  to  find  out  where  peasantry  stopped  and  where 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE     89 

nobility  began,   as  they  went  for  ever  turning  on  the 
wheel  of  fortune. 


II 


The  pohtical  events  in  both  countries,  the  falHng  into 
Turkish  vassaldom,  the  traffic  made  by  the  Turks  with 
the  Koumanian  thrones,  the  need  of  the  prince  ever  to 
befriend  the  boiars,  the  heavy  taxation  to  make  up  the 
large  sums  to  be  paid  at  Constantinople,  all  this  told 
heavily  on  the  wealth  of  the  people,  and  on  their  social 
relations.  At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  serfdom 
is  already  officially  sanctioned  by  a  decree  of  the  Valachian 
prince,  Michael  the  Brave.  In  Moldavia,  no  act  whatever 
came  to  sanction  serfdom ;  nevertheless  the  thing  exiisted, 
just  as  it  did  in  Valachia.  During  the  seventeenth 
century  we  have  also  seen  that  a  great  influx  of  Greeks 
set  in,  and  that  several  of  the  sovereigns  of  this  period 
are  Greek  adventurers.  The  Greeks  who  had  entered 
the  countries  as  creditors  and  friends  of  the  prince,  were 
presented  with  offices,  became  boiars,  intermarried — under 
the  voyevode's  compulsion  mostly — with  boiar  families, 
got  hold  of  their  properties  by  fair  means  or  by  foul, 
supplanting  thus  little  by  little  the  national  nobility. 
In  the  eighteenth  century  the  bulk  of  the  Eoumanian 
nobility  seemed  entirely  Greek,  made  up  of  Greek 
adventurers,  and  altogether  Greek-speaking  boiars ;  for 
the  Greek,  with  the  ostentatious  pride  of  an  old  civilised 
nation,  and  with  his  talent  for  intruding  and  intriguing, 
pressed  so  heavily  on  the  guileless  Koumanian  boiar,  that 
the  latter  did  all  he  could  to  learn  Greek,  and  to  adopt 
Greek  fashions,  in  order  not  to  be  ignored  in  high  society 
or  at  court,  where  the  Greek  monarch  was  the  sun  by 
which  all  nobility  regulated  its  pace.  But  the  people 
knew  best  what  to  think  of  it  all.  **  Cake-maker  in 
Greece  or  prince  in  Eoumania,"  is  a  proverb  that  arose 
in  that  epoch,  implying  the  humble  origin  of  most  of  the 
Greek  rulers,  and  the  poverty  of  the  situations  to  be  got 
in  their  own  fatherland.  "When  a  boy  was  born,  the 
Greek  midwife — they  said — pinched  his  nose  with  the 


90  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

above-mentioned  prophetic  wish  for  his  welfare — the  best 
situation  in  the  world,  to  Greek  minds,  being  either  to 
sell  cakes  at  home  or  else  to  occupy  a  Roumanian  throne. 

Now,  if  the  old  national  nobility  had  not  always 
fostered  the  Roumanian  peasant,  one  can  easily  imagine 
what  the  Greek  must  have  been.  The  Greek  tax- 
gatherer  was  much  abler  at  his  business  than  the 
Roumanian  had  been ;  the  peasants  were  reduced  to 
utter  misery,  and  were  submitted  to  the  cruellest  tor- 
tures to  extort  money  from  them.  And  the  Roumanian 
boiars  joined  in  the  game,  for  those  who  did  not  had 
to  retire  to  the  shade  as  good  for  nothing;  the  old 
"defender"  of  the  country  has  become  its  decided 
oppressor ;  the  name  boiar  is  the  same,  but  the  thing 
is  altogether  different. 

In  these  conditions,  no  wonder  that  the  split  between 
peasant  and  boiar  became  so  deep  that  they  looked  upon 
each  other  as  beings  of  quite  different  origin,  which, 
indeed,  was  true  in  most  cases.  Their  reciprocal  feel- 
ings were  greatly  affected  by  the  change.  What  was 
once  generosity,  good  will,  condescension  on  one  side, 
respect  and  ready  admiration  on  the  other,  now  became 
greed,  contempt,  cruelty  in  the  former,  hatred  and  spirit 
of  revenge  in  the  latter.  The  peasant  knew  very  well 
that  the  boiar  held  his  own  only  by  cowardice  and 
humiliation  before  the  prince ;  for  him  the  boiar  is  now 
a  characterless  being  who 

"  To  alms  (receiving) 
Rushes  forward, 
In  war 
Draws  backward."* 

The  Greek  never  earned  anything  but  hatred  and 
contempt  from  the  Roumanian  folk.  Whenever  there 
is  a  traitor  in  a  ballad  it  is  sure  to  be  a  Greek,  for 


*  "  La  pomana 
Da  navala, 
La  rasboi 
Da  inapoi." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    91 

"  The  Greek  is  an  accursed  soul, 
Overloaded  with  sins."  * 

A  scoundrel  cannot  but  be  a  Greek ;  a 

"...  man  cowardly  as  all  Greeks, 
Who  well  knows  how  to  tear  off 
The  very  shirt  from  one's  body; 
They  take  cattle,  oxen,  horses, 
They  take  everything  you  possess."  f 

When  the  upper  class  was  filled  with  the  Greek 
element,  when  the  Eoumanian  nobility  was  merged  in 
that  Greek  element,  what  wonder  that  the  feeling  of 
the  peasant  for  the  Greek  extended  to  the  whole  upper 
class?  And  these  feelings,  were  they  of  a  nature  to 
inspire  poetry  and  song?  They  did  inspire  songs  of  a 
kind.  The  boiar  was  thenceforth  nothing  but  a  par- 
venu, a  cioco'i  (tchiocoy  =  i^a^rYenu) ,  ciocoz  guler at  (collared 
parvenu),  a  being  who  had  hardly  the  value  of  a  man  in 
the  peasant's  eye.     The  haidook  Bujor  says — 

"  Death  of  man  I  have  not  caused 
But  ciocoi  I  have  thrashed  many."  | 

An  injury  done  to  a  ciocoi  is  not  considered  a  wrong ; 
submission,  obedience  to  rulers  of  the  ciocoi  make,  is 
considered  a  shame.  Jianu,  a  boiar's  son,  turned 
haidook,  is  reported  to  have  said — 

"  Kather  than  to  humble  myself, 
I  prefer  to  be  a  haidook."  § 

*  "  Grecu-i  suflet  blastamat 
De  pacate  incarcat." 

f  "  .  .  .  Om  mi^el  ca  §i  to^i  Grecii 
Ce  stiu  ca  sa-^i  iea  prea  bine 
Chiar  camera  de  pe  tine ; 
l|ii  ieau  vite,  boi  ^i  cai 
l^i  ieau  tot  §i  tot  ce  ai." 

I  "  Mort  de  om  eu  n'am  facut 
Dar  ciocoi  mul^i  am  batut." 

§  "  Decat  sa  ma  caciulesc 
Mai  bine  sa  haiducesc  I  " 


92  FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

Under  such  circumstances  the  Roumanian  lute  was 
inchned  to  be  dumb.  What  the  popular  poet  sees 
round  him  is  not  worth  singing,  and  the  only  feelings 
for  which  he  finds  utterance  are  not  at  all  ideal. 
However,  the  world  is  not  quite  as  empty  and  dull  as 
it  looks.  The  Roumanian  popular  poet  is  high-minded, 
large-hearted.  Now  and  then  he  will  forget  his  own 
sorrows,  and  shed  a  sympathetic  tear  on  the  cruel  death 
of  the  Valachian  voyevode,  Constantin  Brancoveanu, 
executed  at  Constantinople  for  intriguing  with  the 
Russians.     The  people's  sympathy  is  with — 

'*  Brancoveanu  Constantin, 
Ancient  boiar,  and  Christian  prince  "  * — 

the  boiar  of  old  family,  who  prefers  death  for  his  sons 
and  himself  rather  than  forsake  Christianity.  Yet 
Brancoveanu  was  one  of  the  greatest  extortionists  of 
taxation;  but  the  generous  peasant  passes  over  that  for 
the  sake  of  his  higher  virtues.  In  the  same  way  he  will 
follow  with  undivided  interest  the  vicissitudes  and  mis- 
fortunes of  a  Moldavian  boiar,  lordacki  a  Lupului,  and 
lament  over  his  untimely  death.  This  boiar,  one  of  the 
old  stamp,  living  in  the  eighteenth  century  under  the 
Phanariotes,  aware  of  the  hatred  his  voyevode  nourishes 
against  him,  emigrates  to  the  Tartars  in  the  Crimea, 
where  he  is  welcomed  in  a  friendly  manner  by  the  Khan, 
who  promises  to  support  him  with  the  Sultan  and  get  him 
a  ferman  (decree)  of  nomination  to  the  throne,  to  which 
he  also  means  to  help  him  with  a  Tartar  army.  But  the 
good  patriot,  the  honest  Moldavian,  declines : — 


No,  I  shall  take  no  army, 

For  the  country  will  curse  me ;  f 


*  "  Brancoveanu  Constantin 

Boier  vechiii  §i  domn  cre^tin." 

f  "  Ba  eu  oaste  n'oiu  lua 
Ca  ^ara  m'a  blastama. 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    93 

Who  brings  hosts  into  the  land, 

May  he  die  under  the  land's  curse  I  "  * 

But  the  voyevode  succeeds  in  coaxing  back  the  exiled 
boiar  by  treacherous  promises,  to  which  the  artless  boiar 
decides  to  respond  favourably,  against  all  the  warnings 
of  the  more  experienced  Khan.  Attended  by  a  few 
followers,  he  returns  back  to  his  "  fair  Maria,"  to  his 
country  place,  and  hence,  with  a  large  suite  sent  by 
the  prince,  they  start  for  Jassy,  although  the  omens 
are  bad. 

•*  For  the  window  slammed, 

And  fell  to  the  groimd, 

Without  breath  of  wind, 

And  a  gilded  holy-image 

SpHt  without  a  stroke."  | 

As  soon  as  the  boiar  lordacki  has  presented  himself 
before  the  prince,  the  latter,  without  any  further  delay, 
orders  the  executioner  to  cut  off  the  boiar's  head  at  once, 
but  the  boiar  receives  the  man  with  such  a  blow  that  he 
fells  him  to  the  ground.  The  proud  boiar  does  not  fear 
death,  but  he  will  not  have  it  at  the  executioner's  hand. 
He  tenders  his  sword  to  his  trusty  follower,  Lissandre, 
with  the  words — 

"  Take  thou  my  sword 
And  cut  off  my  head  with  it 
And  it  won't  hurt."  | 

But  Lissandre, §  "  sighing  deeply,"  declines  the  dreadful 
service — 

*  Cine-aduce  oasten  'n  tara 
Sub  blastamul  ^erei  piara !  " 

f  "  Ca  fereastra  se  isbea 
§i  cadea  jos  la  pamint, 
Fara  suflare  de  vant, 
^i-o  icoana  poleita 
Trosnea  far  'a  fi  lovita." 

I  "^ine  tu  sabiea  mea 
De-mi  taie  capul  cu  ea 
Ca  nici  cum  nu  m'a  durea." 

§  Lissandre — Lissandru,  diminutive  from  Alexandru, 


94  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

"...  My  master  1 
Your  bread  and  salt  I  have  eaten 
Do  not  drive  me  into  sin  !  "  *  f 

The  Amautzi  rush  on  the  unhappy  boiar,  and  he  is 
killed,  but  his  unfortunate  wife  Maria  takes  up  the  head 
and,  embracing  it,  curses  the  prince  dreadfully.  The 
curse  is  fulfilled,  as  the  ballad  tells  us : — 

"  Green  leaf  of  sand- weed 
Great  fire  is  ablaze  in  Jassy 
The  flame  reaches  to  Mileshti, 
The  brands  spring  up  to  Goleshti, 
The  sparks  fly  to  Barlaneshti, 
And  as  far  as  Ciocaneshti 
And  carry  the  dreadful  news 
That  lordaki  has  perished, 
And  that  fire  has  sprung  up 
From  the  tremendous  curse."  | 


III 

But  the  age  of  the  ballad  was  gone  by.  The  impres- 
sions from  outside  were  of  such  a  colour  now  as  to  arouse 
only  feelings  of  deeper  and  deeper  sorrow  and  suffering 
from  inside,  and  when  the  heart  was  too  full  of  sadness, 
the  admiring  epopee  was  silenced,  and  lyrical  utterances 
only  were  heard.     The  economic  and  social  troubles  were 

"!'         "...  Stapanul  meu  I 
Panea,  sarea,  ^i-am  mancat 
Nu  ma  vara  la  pacat  I  " 

f  The  Eoumanian  peasant  considers  it  a  greater  sin  to  betray  or 
kill  a  former  master  than  any  one  else. 

I  "  Frunza  verde  siminoc 
La  le^  arde  mare  foe 
Bate  para  prin  Mile^ti 
Sar  taciunil  in  Gole^ti 
Scanteile  'n  Barlane^ti 
Pana  pe  la  Ciocane^ti 
Si  due  vestea  de'  ngrozit 
Ca  lordaki  a  perit 
^i  ca  focul  a  sbucnit 
Din  blastamul  eel  cumplit." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE   SOCIAL  SCALE    95 

ample  material  for  popular  complaint ;  it  filled  the  poet's 
life,  it  regulated  his  movements.  There  were  still  rdzdshi 
left,  but  they  were  obhged  to  keep  in  continual  strife  with 
the  boiar,  and  endless  lawsuits  made  them  weary  of  the 
way  to  town,  where  they  were  dragged  over  and  over 
again,  with  a  **  bag  of  papers  for  a  patch  of  land  " — to 
come  at  last  home  again,  oftener  without  than  with  that 
patch  of  land.  In  the  popular  mind  boiardom  has 
become  one  more  national  evil  beside  the  invasions  of 
pagans  and  the  plunder  of  foreigners  ;  the  composer  of 
the  doinas  (popular  songs)  puts  them  on  the  same  level  as 
those  evils.     The  crow  is  supposed  to  say — 

"I  would  eat  hearts  out  of  bosoms 
And  I  would  drink  pagan  blood; 
I  would  eat  kidneys  of  horse, 
And  I  would  drink  blood  of  Russians ; 
I  should  like  to  eat  oak  leaves 
And  I  would  drink  blood  of  Tartar; 
I  would  eat  honeycombs  in  hives, 
And  would  drink  blood  of  ciocoi !  "  * 

The  ciocoi  was  considered  the  extremity  of  evil  as 
appears  from  this  epicurean  crescendo  of  the  Crow's 
ghastly  bill  of  fare. 

The  difficulties  of  Hfe  made  the  peasant  often  weary  of 
household  and  family ;  he  would  desert  his  falling  cottage, 
in  which  all  the  winter  long  he  has  been  struggling  against 
the  bitter  cold. 

"The  drop  has  fallen  on  me, 
The  north  wind  has  frozen  me,f 


"^  "  A§  m^nca  inimi  din  san 
§i-a§  bea  sange  de  pagan ; 
A§  manca  rarunchi  de  cal 
^i-a§  bea  sange  de  Moscal; 
A^  manca  foi  de  stejar 
^i-a§  bea  sange  de  Tatar 
A.^  manca  faguri  de  roi 
^i-B,^  bea  sange  de  ciocoi  1" 

f  "  Picatura  m'a  picat, 
Criva^ul  m'a  inghe^at, 


96  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

The  smoke  has  besmoked  me, 

And  my  sorrel-horse  has  collapsed."  * 

With  the  coming  of  May  he  takes  to  the  thickening 
woods,  driven  out  by  despair,  with  his  revengeful  ghioaga 
(club)  on  his  shoulder  : — 

*'  Tax  is  heavy,  labour  hard. 
Woe  is  me,  0  dear  mother  mine  I 
Where'er  I  go  and  whate'er  I  do, 
Of  troubles  I  can't  get  rid, 
And  nowhere  do  I  find  rest. 
For  very  fear  of  the  sherifif, 
And  for  dread  of  the  taxation 
I  forgot  the  way  to  the  village, 
And  the  horns  of  the  plough: 
I  took  the  way  of  the  grove, 
And  the  footpath  to  the  wood, 
And  the  rifle  of  the  haidook. 
For,  rather  than  beggary, 
Far  better  is  robbery. 
Whatever  God's  will  may  be  1 "  f 

His  sufferings  are  unbearable ;  he  takes  upon  himself 
the  sole  responsibility  of  righting  his  wrongs,  and  then 
he  will  regulate  his  accounts  with  God,  for  whom,  says 
he,  "  peasant  and  boiar  is  all  one."    He  trusts  that, 

*  Fumul  ca  m'a  afumat, 
Roibul  ca  mi-a  le^inat." 

f  "  Biru-i  greu,  podveada  grea 
Saracu^  de  maica  mea ! 
Unde  merg  §i  ori-ce  fac 
De  belele  nu  mai  scap 
Nicairi  nu  mai  incap. 
De  frica  zapciului 
^i  de  groaza  birului 
Uitai  drumul  satului 
§i  coarnele  plugului: 
Luai  drumul  cringului 
^i  poteca  codrului 
^i  flinta  haiducului. 
Ca,  decit  in  calicie 
Mai  bine  in  haiducie 
Ce-a  vrea  Dumnezeu  sa  fie  1  " 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    97 

wicked  though  his  behaviour  may  be,  the  many  wrongs 
done  to  him  will  make  the  balance  even  before  the 
Almighty  Judge.  He  has  no  more  patience  left ;  he 
dares  to  threaten  the  boiar  openly : — 


•  Green  leaf  of  chervil, 
I  met  once  with  a  cioci : 
'  Good  way  to  thee,  thou  Koumanian  I 
'  Thanli:  you,  dog  of  a  cioci ! ' 
'  Thou  ruffian,  thou  art  drunk.' 
'  Bark  on,  collared  ciocoi. 
For  to-day  I  took  no  food.' 
'  Thou  ruffian,  evil  villain, 
I  shall  settle  this  with  thee 
When  heavy  taxation  comes  I ' 
'  Woe  to  thee  I  Son  of  ciocoi 
May  I  catch  thee  in  the  field 
To  soften  thee  with  my  club, 
That  I  may  take  off  thy  skin 
And  wrap  in  that  skin  of  thine 
My  pistols  and  my  rifle; 
That  the  wind  may  not  touch  them, 
That  the  rain  may  not  rust  them 
Nor  the  eye  catch  sight  of  them  1 ' "  * 


"^  "  Frunza  verde  baraboi 
Ma  'ntilnii  cu  un  ciocoi: 
'  Buna  cale  mai  Eomane 
'  Mul^umesc  ciocoi  de  cane  I 
'  Mai  mojice,  tu  e^ti  bat. 
*  Latra  ciocoi  gulerat 
Ca  eu  asta-zi  n'am  mancat ! ' 
'  Mai  mojice,  mojic  rau 
Las'ca  mi  te-oi  drege  eu 
Cand  a  veni  birul  greul" 
"  Alelei  I  Pui  de  ciocoi 
De  te-a§  prinde  la  zavoi 
Sa-^i  dau  maciuci  sa  te  moi 
De  piele  sa  te  despoi 
Ga  sa  'mbrac  cu  pielea  ta 
Pistoalele  ^i  flinta. 
Vintul  sa  nu  le  paleasca 
Ploi  sa  nu  le  rugineasca 
Ochiul  sa  nu  le  zareasea  1 " 
8 


98  FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

This  is  the  pass  to  which  the  relations  between  boiars 
and  peasants  had  come,  whom  we  saw  to  be  friends  in  the 
old  times,  whom  we  have  witnessed  changing  places  over 
and  over  again.  The  old  nobility  had  for  the  most  part 
disappeared  among  the  much-tried  peasantry  ;  the  upper 
ranks  had  been  filled  with  a  nobility  which,  if  not  entirely 
strange,  was  at  any  rate  entirely  estranged  from  the 
nation.  The  aim  of  the  Phanariotes  in  their  more  than 
centm-y-long  reign,  had  been  to  Grecise  the  Roumanians, 
and  it  really  looked  very  much  like  success  for  them,  with 
all  those  boiars  speaking  a  more  or  less  grammatical  Greek, 
and  the  poor  Roumanian  tongue  banished  from  good 
society.  But  the  peasants  never  learned  Greek,  no,  not 
they:  they  kept  alive  the  sacred  spirit  of  nationality 
embodied  in  its  language,  fallen  all  within  their  care ! 
And  yet,  when  the  Phanariotic  rule  was  at  an  end,  lo  !  all 
the  Greeks  had  disappeared,  as  if  swept  away  by  magic 
power.  The  fact  is,  that  with  all  their  striving  to  Grecise 
the  Roumanians,  the  Greeks  themselves  were  becoming 
insensibly  Roumanised !  The  curtain  had  hardly  fallen 
on  the  Phanariotic  comedy,  when  Roumanian  courts  with 
national  princes  revealed  a  majority  of  Roumanian  nobles, 
speaking  Roumanian,  forgetting  their  Greek  in  no  time, 
offended  if  called  Greeks,  never  desiring  or  dreaming  to 
be  Greeks  again.  Time  had  done  its  work ;  their 
descendants  were  indeed  Roumanians — some  of  them 
quite  good  Roumanians  indeed,  in  the  long  run.  But  the 
reciprocal  feeling  was  not  much  improved  all  the  same ; 
the  economic  and  social  state  of  the  peasants  remaining 
the  same,  there  was,  of  course,  no  place  for  improvement 
in  feelings.  Moreover,  the  national,  or  nationalised, 
boiars  of  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  displayed 
such  egoism  as  to  startle  even  the  Russian  Kisseleff.  By 
the  *'  Organic  Regulations,"  a  constitution  imposed  by 
the  Russians — during  the  occupation  of  the  principalities 
in  1828-34 — the  boiars  succeeded  in  getting  privileges 
second  to  none  in  Europe ;  their  military  service  was 
even  dispensed  with,  a  service  considered  as  a  duty  and 
an  honour  even  by  the  worst  of  nobles  in  the  worst  of 
times  !    The  oppression  of  the  peasants  reached  its  climax. 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    99 

But  1848  was  near  at  hand.  Eisings  were  prepared  in 
both  countries,  by  young  men,  nobles  and  non-nobles, 
awakened  to  liberal  ideas  by  what  was  going  on  in 
Western  Europe.  The  rising  in  Moldavia  was  paralysed 
from  the  very  start.  One  anecdote  tells  us  that  the 
young  boiars,  caught  in  the  act  of  conspiring  against 
their  monarch,  were  arrested,  taken  to  the  barracks, 
stretched  down  and  lashed  with  twenty-five  rods  a-piece 
— a  great  breach  of  the  boiar  privileges,  for  thrashing  was 
still  an  official  punishment,  but  the  boiars  were  exempted 
from  it.  The  thrashed  boiars  escaped,  however,  and  fled 
to  the  mountains,  trying  to  start  a  rising  among  the 
peasants.  In  their  eagerness  to  bring  home  to  the  slow 
peasant  mind  the  need  of  a  rising  against  the  oppressive 
monarch,  they  took  as  example  the  very  wrongs  done  to 
them  :  *'  Good  men,  just  consider  the  lawlessness  of  this 
prince;  he  has  actually  thrashed  ws  / "  "Well,"  an- 
swered the  peasant  quietly,  **  you  see,  things  stand 
thus :  the  boiars  thrash  us,  and  voda  (voyevode)  thrashes 
the  boiars ! " 

The  strained  feelings  between  peasant  and  boiar  could 
not  give  way  but  with  the  gradual  improvement  of  the 
former's  condition,  and  hardly  anything  was  done  in  that 
way  before  the  union  of  the  two  countries.  But,  inde- 
pendently of  their  material  troubles,  the  peasants  were 
quite  alive  to  the  idea  of  unity ;  it  seems  to  have  been 
brooding  in  their  bosoms  all  through  the  ages,  so  readily 
did  they  take  to  it.  In  truth,  the  union  was  made  by  the 
people  at  large  rather  than  by  the  boiars.  With  all  that 
the  peasants  were  not  so  silly  as  not  to  understand  that  if 
they  were  wanted  to  make  the  union,  the  boiars  would 
still  have  the  best  of  it,  with  the  least  trouble  possible, 
and  that  the  peasants  in  their  turn  were  not  very  back- 
ward in  bringing  their  feelings  home  to  the  boiars,  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  following  anecdote  reported  by  the 
most  popular  of  Eoumanian  writers.  Ion  Creanga,  an 
anecdote  which,  I  dare  say,  will  fit  more  than  one 
country. 

In  1857,  when  men's  minds  were  excited  with  the  idea 
of  unity,  the  national  party  of  Jassy  called   to  town  a 


100         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

number  of  peasants  of  each  department,  who  were  to 
attend  their  assembhes  and  take  an  active  part  in  the 
union  business.  One  of  the  most  democratically-minded 
boiars  took  charge  of  them,  and  was  entrusted  with  the 
duty  of  explaining  matters  to  them  as  clearly  as  was 
required  by  their  slow,  uneducated  brains.  In  a  smart 
speech  he  explained  to  them  the  righteousness  of  the 
union  of  the  sister  countries,  and  the  need  of  it,  and 
the  good  that  would  follow  for  all.  At  last  he  encouraged 
them  to  say  whether  they  had  understood  and  to  ask 
again  what  was  not  clear  to  them.  The  more  timid  of 
them  replied  that  no  doubt  the  boiars  knew  best,  as  they 
were  learned  and  in  touch  with  what  was  going  on  in  the 
world ;  as  for  themselves,  what  could  they  know,  from 
the  horns  of  their  plough  ?  but  one  of  them,  the  cunning 
old  Ion  Roata,  made  bold  to  say  that  he  had  not  under- 
stood. Of  course,  he  went  on,  it  was  all  right  that  the 
boiars  should  do  what  they  liked  without  asking  them, 
for  they — the  peasants — were  able  enough  at  handling  the 
hoe,  and  the  scythe,  and  the  sickle,  and  all  that,  but  the 
boiars  could  handle  the  pen,  and  make  the  white  black, 
and  the  black  white  at  will,  for  God  had  given  them 
wisdom  to  guide  the  ignorant,  and  so  on.  No, 
asserted  the  boiar,  the  times  were  gone  by  when  the 
boiars  thought  more  of  themselves  than  of  the  rest  of 
mankind  ;  now  equality  prevailed,  and  they  ought  all  to 
have  an  equal  share  in  the  conduct  as  well  as  in  the 
burdens  of  the  land — and,  again  he  went  on  in  long 
explanations,  after  which  he  said  he  hoped  the  peasants 
understood  what  was  expected  from  them.  Old  Ion 
Roata' s  mind  has  again  been  too  slow  for  him.  The 
boiar,  however,  does  not  get  angry;  he  wants  to  show 
patience ;  he  wishes  to  be  clear  and  instructive. 

"Well,"  says  he,  "Uncle  John,  do  you  see  that  big 
stone  at  the  end  of  my  garden  ?  Will  you  please  bring  it 
to  me  here  ?  " 

The  peasant  goes  but  cannot  lift  the  stone.  A  second 
peasant  is  sent  along  to  help,  then  a  third,  a  fourth — till 
they  were  able  to  lift  the  block  on  their  shoulders  and 
bring  it  before  the  boiar.    There  was  the  object  lesson  ! 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE     101 

"Now,  you  see,"  said  the  boiar,  brightening  up,  ''none 
of  you  alone  could  lift  that  stone,  but  altogether  you  have 
overcome  the  difficulty.  Union  makes  strength,  and  there 
exactly  lies  the  point  of  our  union  with  the  other  Kou- 
manian  country." 

But  again  the  queer  old  man  has  not  understood !  The 
boiar  is  at  his  wits'  end,  but  does  not  lose  his  temper. 

"  Now,  then,"  says  he,  "  I  really  wonder  how  you  have 
not  understood,  Uncle  John,  it  is  so  very  plain !  How- 
ever, will  you  just  tell  me,  in  your  own  way,  what  you 
have  understood  and  what  not  ?    Let  us  hear." 

"Well,  sir,  don't  be  displeased,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  from  speech  to  action  there  is  a  good  long  way. 
You,  like  any  boiar,  have  commanded  us  to  bring  the 
stone,  but  you  have  not  put  your  own  shoulder  along 
with  us,  as  you  were  saying  a  moment  since,  that  we 
should  all  have  equal  share  in  burdens  and  rights. 
From  your  stone  I  have  understood  that  up  to  now 
we  peasants  have  had  each  a  separate  stone  to  bear 
on  our  shoulders,  but  that  henceforth  we  peasants  all 
together,  still  only  the  peasants,  will  be  called  upon  to 
bear  on  our  shoulders  a  bigger  stone;  that  is  what 
I  have  understood !  " 

The  John  Eoata  type  is  a  characteristic  one  among 
Eoumanian  peasantry. 

But  they  brought  about,  none  the  less,  the  unity  of  the 
country;  and  the  Eoumanian  peasants  behaved  most 
patriotically  on  that  occasion,  as  has  been  duly  acknow- 
ledged by  the  Congress  of  Paris  itself ;  in  the  Divanuri- 
ad-hoc — assemblies  elected  to  express  the  wish  of  the 
people  as  to  unity — they  put  aside  their  own  interests, 
which  they  had  so  much  at  heart,  till  other  times,  in 
order  to  get  the  momentous,  the  all-prevailing  thing, 
unity. 

In  1866  the  Constitution  of  United  Eoumania  was 
written ;  this  Constitution  clearly  states  in  its 
10th  Article :  "  There  exists  no  difference  of  classes 
whatever  in  Eoumania."  The  principle  of  equality  is 
there  again,  as  it  was  in  the  old  time  ;  not  written  down 
then,  but  sanctified  by  custom ;  the  principle  of  equality 


102        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

prevailed  again,  and,  although  facts  may  still  often  clash 
with  the  principle,  it  stands  there,  nevertheless,  like  a 
pillar  of  light  in  the  night  of  injustice,  and  a  Roumanian 
may  still  reach  and  depend  upon  it,  whatever  obstacles 
may  obstruct  the  way.  By  this  Constitution  there  are 
no  more  boiars  in  the  old  sense,  the  very  shadow  of 
privilege  has  disappeared,  and  boiars  and  peasants  are 
all  equal  citizens ;  they  are  the  Boumanian  people.  But 
with  all  the  equality  there  is  none  the  less  ample  room  for 
practical  differences  ;  there  are  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the 
cultured  and  the  ignorant,  who  in  truth  make  a  good 
deal  of  difference  among  men,  so  that  the  framework 
of  society  is,  and  probably  ever  will  be,  still  a  ladder,  but 
again  a  well-trodden  one.  There  will  be  always  a  leading 
class  and  a  led  one,  an  upper  and  a  lower,  and  a  rise 
from  the  latter  to  the  former  is  always  possible  under 
conditions  of  capacity,  education,  and  merit— all  very 
fine,  no  doubt,  if  that  were  all,  but  there  are  other  means 
of  arriving,  and  the  peasant  tells  you  that  too  often — 

"The  pearl  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
Whilst  the  corpse  floats  on  the  surface,"* 

so  that  the  fact  of  being  higher  or  lower  on  the  ladder 
does  not  mean  much.  But  he  is  tolerant,  when  even  the 
injustice  is  most  obvious,  for  he  says  again — 

"A  forest  without  dry  twigs  is  impossible."  f 

A  practical  difference  of  classes  exists,  then,  and  the 
man  of  the  upper  class  is  still  called  a  boiar — the  lady, 
the  cucoana.  The  old  jupin  and  jupaneasa  have  long 
disappeared,  and  are  only  to  be  heard  now  and  then  in 
far-away  places,  where  peasants  will  address  each  other 
by  these  appellations — such  peasants  being  possibly 
descendants  of  some  old  rusticated  boiars.  For  a  long 
time  these   appellations  have  been  confined   to  Jews, 


*  "  Margaritarul  sta  In  fundul  marii 

lar  mortaciunea  plute^te  pe  de-asupra." 

f  "  Padure  fara  uscaturi  nu  se  poate." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    103 

and  probably  through  them  have  come  to  bear  quite 
a  scornful  meaning,  so  that  to-day  even  the  poorest  Jew 
feels  offended  if  thus  addressed,  desiring  to  be  called 
domnule  (gentleman). 

With  the  proclamation  of  equality  the  barbarous 
punishment  of  the  rod  was  struck  out  of  penal  pro- 
cedure, at  the  very  zealous  insistence  of  the  boiars 
themselves,  who,  exactly  on  the  principle  of  equality, 
felt  that  they  might  sometimes  be  liable  to  feel  at  the 
hands  of  some  very  unheeding  official  the  rod's  strokes 
on  their  own  noble  backs.  The  principle  was  again  won, 
but  bad  habits  are  not  so  easily  given  up ;  the  boiar  was 
too  much  used  to  have  his  own  way,  and  the  recalcitrant 
peasant  was  often  quickly  brought  by  force  to  the  boiar's 
residence  curte  (court),  stretched  in  front  of  the  staircase, 
and  flogged  till  the  blood  came.  Such  things  cannot 
easily  be  forgotten,  and  many  a  grandfather  still  lives 
to  tell  his  staring  grandchildren,  sitting  round  the  hearth 
on  a  winter  night,  all  the  sufferings  he  has  seen  or  him- 
self endured  from  the  merciless  boiar.  Will  not  these 
children  readily  draw  a  simile  between  past  and  present  ? 
And  often,  if  the  present  boiar  does  not  behave  quite  as 
cruelly  as  of  old,  he  is,  nevertheless,  the  "  hereditary 
foe,"  much  inclined  to  treat  him,  the  growing  youth,  as 
the  wolf  did  the  lamb  of  the  fable. 

That  is  why  the  peasant  would  rather  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  boiar ;  he  will  never  take  domestic  service 
if  he  can  help  it — anything  is  better  than  that : 

"Green  leaf  of  garlic 
Than  servant  to  the  ciocoi 
Rather  shepherd  to  the  ewes 
With  one's  head  on  the  mole-hill."* 

That  a  gentleman  should  be  loved  by  the  peasants 
is   a  great   exception;   he  must  have   won   it   by  life- 

*  "Frunza  verde  usturoi 
Decit  sluga  la  ciocoi 
Mai  bine  cioban  la  oi 
Cu  capul  pe  mu^inoi  1 " 


104         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

long  righteousness  and  goodness  to  them  to  have 
obHterated  their  hereditary  distrust,  an  extremely  dif- 
ficult thing,  as  even  the  best  proposal  might  take  in 
their  eyes  the  shape  of  a  trap  placed  under  their  feet 
by  the  boiars.  They  expect  to  be  always  taken  in,  as 
their  hereditary  experience  has  taught  them  that  they 
have  always  been  *'the  eternally  cheated." 

If  the  feelings  of  the  peasant  for  the  country  gentry 
are  not  very  cordial  those  for  the  townspeople  are  not 
more  so.  In  town  lives  the  great  bulk  of  the  ruling 
class ;  the  idea  of  the  peasant  is  that  the  town  people, 
at  least  as  far  as  the  gentry  go,  live  at  his  expense.  The 
difference  in  dress  is  for  him  the  symbol  of  the  inner 
difference ;  whilst  the  peasant  has  stuck  to  his  national 
costume,  the  townsman  has  adopted  the  European  cut — 
"  German  dress,"  as  the  people  call  it.  The  surtucar 
(from  surtuc  =  redingote)  is  for  the  peasant  something  like 
the  ciocoi,  not  so  powerful,  but  just  as  hateful  and  con- 
temptible, living  at  the  peasant's  expense.  This  belief 
has  been  enforced  on  his  mind  by  the  tremendous 
demand  there  is  in  towns  for  State  offices,  both  among 
the  rich  and  poor,  and  the  struggle  for  them,  which 
really  forms  the  groundwork  of  political  disputes  and 
party  politics — just  as  the  struggles  went  on  in  the  old 
times  for  titled  functions !  Moreover,  the  peasant,  com- 
paring his  labour  with  the  work  of  a  town  gentleman,  is 
inclined  to  think  that  the  gentleman  is  paid  for  doing 
nothing.  In  town  also  very  often  resides  the  master  of 
the  land  (mo§ie)  the  peasants  are  living  on ;  a  proprietor 
who  does  not  care  a  pin  for  land  or  peasants,  who  cares 
only  for  the  income,  brought  in  either  by  the  working  of 
the  estate  through  a  subordinate  official,  a  veJcilj  or  by 
letting  the  land  to  a  stranger,  a  farmer  who  is  very  often 
a  foreigner,  mostly  a  Jew  (in  Moldavia,  at  least),  and 
cares  still  less  for  land  or  people  than  the  actual  master 
does.  To  regulate  the  reciprocal  relations  of  peasants 
and  landowners  or  farmers,  law  has  had  to  intervene 
more  than  once.  As  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  the  successive  Acts  endeavouring  to  settle  land 
as  well  as  labour  questions,  had  no  other  effect  than  to 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    105 

lead  to  the  rising  of  1888,  so  that  the  next  Parliament 
met  with  the  set  purpose  of  regulating  the  relations 
between  peasant  and  large  landowner,  which  even  in 
the  message  from  the  throne  were  recognised  as  having 
been  "iniquitous"  and  "unjust." 

It  was  not,  however,  before  1893  that  a  new  law  was 
voted,  a  decided  improvement  on  the  preceding  ones  in 
its  endeavour  to  put  a  stop,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the 
exploitation  of  the  peasant  by  the  large  proprietor  or 
farmer;  the  peasant  was  put  more  than  ever  before 
under  the  shield  of  the  law  as  represented  by  magis- 
trates, but  how  far  these  are  accessible  to  the  peasants 
is  another  question.  Possibly  this  last  law  has  done 
as  much  as  law  can  do ;  but  after  all,  laws  are  mere 
formulas,  and  the  important  point  is  their  application, 
much  more  than  their  publication.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  situation  of  the  peasants  is  as  yet  far  from  being  that 
of  the  Golden  Age,  and  the  peasant  who  has  not  suf- 
ficient land  of  his  own  to  live  on  its  produce,  and  is 
obhged  to  depend  on  paid  labour,  is  still  at  the  mercy 
of  the  landowner,  or,  what  is  worse,  of  an  exploiting 
farmer,  as  the  land  proprietors  more  and  more  leave 
their  lands  in  the  hands  of  farmers  who  are  strangers, 
to  live  more  according  to  their  taste  in  towns  or  even 
abroad. 

As  it  is  peasant  and  "  gentleman  "  are  not  on  the  best 
of  terms,  save  quite  exceptionally ;  the  peasant  is  full 
of  distrust  towards  the  gentleman — 

"With  a  gentleman's  lie 
You  can  make  the  tour  of  Hungary."  * 

He  expects  to  be  always  cheated  and  brought  to  ruin 
if  the  rich  wishes  it,  for — 

"  The  wealth  of  the  rich  swallows  the  morsel  of  the  poor."  f 


*  "Cu  0  minciuna  boiereasca 
Incunjuri  ifSxa,  ungureasca." 

Averea  bogatului  inghite  buca^ica  saracului." 


106         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

He  expects  no  mercy,  no  help  from  the  rich,  but — 

"Before  inclination  (to  give)  has  come  to  the  rich, 
The  poor  will  have  breathed  his  last."  * 

When  his  forbearance  is  at  an  end  he  will  rise,  as  he 
has  often  done — to  be  put  down  just  as  easily ;  he  will 
threaten — 

"The  bad  felly  (of  the  wheel)  also  comes  uppermost."! 

On  the  whole  it  would  seem  that  the  peasant  is 
turning  a  diplomatist  after  all,  and,  being  so  often 
taken  advantage  of,  he  will  pay  in  similar  coin  when 
his  opportunity  comes.  Here  is  an  anecdote  to  illustrate 
the  diplomatic  relation  between  peasant  and  master.  A 
gentleman  wanted  to  try  a  peasant  he  had  in  his  service 
to  see  if  he  meant  to  stay  over  the  winter : 

'* '  Look  there,  John,  what  is  that  ?  ' 

'*  *  A  cat,  sir.' 

'*  *  No,  look  well,  it  is  a  bear.' 

'*  *  Oh,  but  it  is  a  cat  as  much  a  cat  can  be,  sir ! ' 

'*  *  It  is  no  cat,  John,  it  is  a  bear.' 

'*  *  But  I  am  not  blind,  sir ;  I  am  quite  sure  it  is  a  cat.' 

'* '  Well,  John,  I  perceive  you  are  not  an  obedient 
servant,  and  I  mean  to  dismiss  you  this  autumn.' 

"  '  Now,  sir,  you  may  be  right  after  all,  it  is  a  bear ! '" 

In  winter  labour  is  low ;  John  could  not  afford  to  lose 
his  place. 

In  spring,  when  labour  is  dear,  John  has  the  best  of  it, 
and  he  wants  to  test  his  master.  On  seeing  the  very 
same  cat  on  a  house — 

"  '  Oh,  look  sir,  what  a  bear ! ' 

"  *  Are  you  drunk,  John  ?  it  is  no  bear,  but  a  cat.' 

**  *  It  is  a  bear,  sir ;  just  look  well.' 

"  *  It  is  no  bear  at  all.' 


*  "Pana-i  vine  gustnl  bogatului, 
less  sufletul  saracului." 

I  "Vine  §i  obada  cea  ra  deasupra." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE   SOCIAL  SCALE     107 

"  '  Well,  sir,  if  you  go  on  pronouncing  me  a  fool  I  shall 
have  to  go  away.' 

"  '  Well  I  see  it  is  a  bear  after  all,  but  a  small  one ! '  " 


IV 

Among  themselves  the  peasants  have  their  own  social 
distinctions,  their  foundation,  too,  being  wealth.  A 
rdzdsh  is  looked  up  to  if  he  has  much  land  and  is  alto- 
gether well  off ;  but  if  he  has  just  a  bit  of  land,  as  is  often 
the  case,  he  is  looked  down  upon  by  the  better  sort  of 
clacash  (as  the  other  peasants  used  to  be  called  before 
getting  land).  A  well-to-do  peasant  is  addressed  with 
bade — the  woman  with  lele,  and  the  endearing  term 
lelitza  for  younger  ones — which  is  nothing  but  a  cour- 
teous appellation  (as  the  Mr.  for  the  upper  classes),  given 
even  by  the  gentry  to  any  peasant  one  wishes  to  be  polite 
to.  In  truth,  you  cannot  well  address  otherwise  a  peasant 
who  is  not  your  servant  or  subordinate,  or  whom  you  do 
not  know  very  well — in  which  case  you  call  him  by  his 
Christian  name. 

For  the  old  the  appellation  of  module  (uncle)  and 
mdtusd  (aunt)  are  commonly  used  by  peasant  and  gentry. 
They  have  also  the  mdi  for  a  man  and  fa  for  a  female — 
rude  appellations,  but  frequently  used  among  equals, 
especially  the  young  on  intimate  terms ;  also  to  inferiors ; 
but,  coming  from  a  superior,  a  gentleman,  they  are 
resented  as  grave  offences. 

The  social  distinctions  among  peasants  come  especially 
to  the  front  on  the  occasion  of  weddings,  christenings, 
social  gatherings  in  general,  where  the  rich  are  expected 
to  be  open-handed  but  keep  the  head  of  the  table.  The 
poor  peasant  feels  rather  at  a  disadvantage  opposite  his 
rich  neighbour;  he  thinks  him  endowed  with  peculiar 
luck. 

"Even  the  oxen  of  the  poor  don't  draw."* 


*  "  Saracului  nici  boii  nu-i  trag." 


108         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

and, 

"With  the  poor,  even  his  pipe  does  not  burn;"* 

whilst  on  the  contrary, 

"For  the  rich,  even  the  devil  rocks  his  children."! 

That  is  why  he  thinks  it  very  wise  not  to  have  quarrels 
with  the  rich  : — 

"  With  the  rich,  neither  try  your  horse  nor  measure  your  purse."  | 

Not  that  he  thinks  very  much  of  wealth,  for — 

"The  highest  riches 
Are  like  the  mountain  stream: 
To-day  it  flows  and  floods, 
To-morrow  it  diminishes  and  dries."  § 

And  wealth  dishonestly  won  is  sure  ruin  of  the  soul, 
for — 

"Of  rightly-earned  money,  the  devil  still  takes  half;  as  for 
the  wrongly-earned,  he  will  take  it  and  its  master  withal."  || 

Neither  does  it  seem  very  easy  to  overcome  poverty, 
as — 

"  Wealth  is  only  a  hurdle,  poverty  is  a  stone  wall."  IT 

The  Roumanian  peasant  does  not  look  down  upon  those 
poorer  than  himself,  but  will  become  satirical  with  a  poor 

*  "Omului  sarac  nici  luleaua  nu-i  arde." 
f  "Omului  bogat,  fi  dracu-i  leagana  copiii." 

I  "  Cu  bogatul,  nici  calul  sa-^i  Incerci  nici  punga  sa-^i  masori." 

§  "Averile  de  frunte 

Sint  ca  un  isvor  de  munte: 
Asta-zi  curge  ^i  ineaca 
Mine  scade  §'apoi  saca." 

II  "Din  banii  drep^i  iea  dracu  pe  jumatate,  iar  pe  cei  str^lmbi  ii 
tea  cu  stapS-n  cu  tot." 

IT  "Averea-i  gard  de  nuele,  saraciea-i  zid  de  piatra." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    109 

but  proud  person,  especially  if  the  latter  would  pass  for  a 
gentleman : — 

^^ Mister ^  holding  an  ox  by  a  rope;  if  you  had  two, 
I  would  call  you  master  I "  * 

will  he  address  him.     Often  he  will  humour  his  own 
poverty : — 

"  Of  poverty  I  think  little 
She  sits  at  home  under  the  bed, 
She  has  laid  and  now  is  brooding, 
God  helping,  she  will  increase."  f 


V 

Types, 

With  regard  to  their  physical  appearance,  the  Eou- 
manians,  although  very  varied,  like  any  other  people, 
have  still  in  their  looks  and  bearing  something  quite 
their  own.  From  the  historical  point  of  view,  three 
types  seem  to  be  conspicuous,  observable  in  the  Car- 
pathian region :  A  Boman  type,  in  the  south-western 
parts,  namely,  in  the  Oltenia,  the  Banat,  and  the  south- 
west of  Transylvania — the  very  ground  of  the  old  Koman 
colonisation — a  type  very  much  like  the  Italian  type.  In 
the  north  and  north-east  of  Transylvania,  in  the  Buko- 
vina  and  the  western  mountains  of  Moldavia,  a  Dacian 
type  predominates.  Down  in  the  plains,  east  and  south- 
ward, the  Slav  type  is  apparent,  mixed  to  a  large  extent 
with  both  the  former  types. 

In  general,  as  groundlines  whereby  the  Eoumanian  type 
may  be  recognised,  we  may  put  down :  Slender  figure, 
rather  long  trunk  as  compared  to  the  length  of  the  legs ; 

*  "  Domnule,  cu  un  bou  de  funic ; 
sa  fii  cu  doi  ^i-as  zice  badeT* 

f  "De  saracie  nu-mi  pasa 
Ca  ^ade  sub-pat  acasa 
A  ouat  §'acum  cloce^te 
De-o  vrea  Dumnezeu  spore^te." 


110         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

well-cut  profile — whatever  the  complexion ;  rather  small, 
deep-set  eyes,  of  all  colours ;  all  shades  of  hair,  always 
lighter  in  beard  and  moustache  than  on  the  head.  Besides, 
a  Roumanian  peasant  seldom  wears  a  beard ;  this  is  the 
case  with  old  men  only,  who  are  very  anxious  indeed  to 
preserve,  as  they  say,  this  symbol  of  their  respectability 
and  honour.  The  young  men  all  shave,  but  all  wear 
moustachios,  and  never  would  dream  of  cutting  them. 
A  man  with  an  entirely  clean-shaven  face  is  very  distaste- 
ful to  them ;  a  spin  (a  beardless,  moustacheless  man)  is 
looked  upon  as  of  very  doubtful  character;  and  so  is  a 
red-haired  man.  In  popular  tales  both  are  set  down  as 
peculiar  beings,  sure  to  work  mischief  wherever  they 
come. 

As  to  women,  their  appearance  is  not  quite  that  of  the 
men  in  the  various  regions.  As  a  rule  they  have  rather 
round  than  long  faces ;  well-defined  profiles,  but  not  as 
sharply  cut  as  men's;  small  bones  and  delicate  frames. 
Slender,  too  :  a  fat  peasant  woman  is  quite  a  rare  sight ; 
they  are  generally  thin  and  delicate,  with  small  hands 
and  small  feet,  even  in  the  regions  where  labour  is 
hard;  they  have  thin  lips,  full  shoulders,  but  bosoms 
only  slightly  developed. 

Now  I  imagine  one  is  not  expected  to  speak  of  women 
without  hinting  at  beauty.  As  far  as  their  looks  go, 
Roumanian  peasant  women  are  recognised  as  the  fairest 
among  their  neighbours  by  all  the  nations  living  round 
them,  and  by  all  foreign  travellers  who  have  seen  them. 
German  writers  seem  not  to  find  appreciative  epithets 
enough  to  describe  the  Roumanian  (popular)  fair  sex : 
''interesting  apparitions,"  "charming  beings,"  "ensnar- 
ing, seductive  women  and  girls  " ;  attractive  is  the  least 
they  appear  to  be  able  to  say  of  them.  One  of  them 
says  :  "  Among  few  peoples  can  one  observe  so  strikingly 
many,  if  not  handsome,  at  least  pleasant  and  pretty 
women  as  among  the  Roumanians."  And  a  Russian 
writer,  speaking  about  Bassarabia,  says  of  the  peasant 
women :  "  The  brilliant  dark  eyes  of  the  Moldavian 
woman,  her  graceful  movements,  now  slow  and  indolent, 
now  passionate,  make  of  her  a  very  charming  being." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    111 

Now,  apart  from  foreign  enthusiasm  and  kindliness,  we 
may  fairly  agree  that  the  Roumanian  peasant  woman  is 
freely  gifted  with  natural  beauty,  most  apparent  where 
she  is  in  the  condition  to  preserve  it,  and  this  is  true  of 
men  also.  Where  nature  has  been  more  generous,  and 
men  and  women  can  live  more  in  the  shade,  and  work 
less  hard,  their  physical  appearance  will  be  at  its  best — 
this  is  usually  the  case  in  mountainous  districts.  But 
the  scorching  sun  and  blasting  winds  of  the  plain,  the 
hard,  endless  labour  and  bad  food,  and  much  toil,  and 
little  joy  ?  .  .  .  these  are  surely  not  conditions  to  make 
one  beautiful. 

But  what  is  really  important  about  the  Eoumanian's 
appearance,  and  striking,  according  to  foreign  travellers* 
reports,  is  that  he  has  an  expression;  there  is  always 
something  characteristic  in  his  face.  Bad  or  good  as  his 
character  may  be,  you  see  it  there  in  his  looks ;  there  is  a 
soul  alive  under  that  mask  of  flesh.  And,  if  there  are 
extremes  of  character,  as  it  is,  for  instance,  said  of  the 
Motz  (dweller  of  the  south-western  Transylvania)  that 
he  is  stern,  severe,  inspiring  fear,  and  of  the  Oltean  (in 
the  west  of  Valachia)  that  he  is  bright,  lively,  and  talka- 
tive, it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the  groundwork  of  the 
Roumanian  character  is  quietness,  seriousness,  assurance 
and  steadiness,  and  these  are  manifest  in  his  looks. 
Tenacious,  steadfast,  stubborn,  and  above  all,  long- 
enduring,  the  Roumanian  peasant  goes  on  patiently, 
through  his  many  troubles  and  scanty  joys ;  he  knows 
that  life  is  not  play ;  he  knows  that  it  is  hard  to  get  on, 
but  that  perseverance  will  carry  one  through.  But  the 
virtues  have  their  own  vices :  too  much  endurance  may 
be  wrong  after  all ;  fortitude  becomes  inertness,  patience 
becomes  apathy.  The  Roumanian,  at  least  the  Mol- 
davian, peasant  himself  acknowledges  this  defect  in  his 
character,  of  thinking  too  much  before  acting,  in  the 
modest  proverb : — 

"Give  me,  0  God,  the  Moldavian's  wisdom  last."* 


*  "  Da-mi,  Doamne,  mintea  Moldovanului  cea  de  pe  urma." 


112         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

South  of  the  Danube,  according  to  Dr.  Weigand's 
descriptions,  there  seem  to  be  two  fundamental  types  of 
Roumanians  or  Armtni.  One  type,  in  the  north,  of  fair 
complexion ;  the  other  in  the  south,  dark,  fairly  representa- 
tive, he  says,  of  the  old  Roman  legionary.  These  two 
types  present  a  good  many  variations.  As  compared  with 
their  neighbours,  they  are  not  as  tall  as  the  Albanians,  but 
taller  than  the  Bulgarians ;  in  opposition  to  the  Bulgarian's 
round  face,  the  Armin  strikes  one  by  his  long-shaped  face, 
still  more  striking  in  women.  Blue-eyed  Armini  are  rare, 
still  rarer  red-haired  ones ;  their  eyes  are  always  deep-set. 
The  Armin  has  not  the  dull,  stupid  expression  of  the 
Slav  peasant;  he  is  judicious,  decided,  bold,  and  con- 
siderate at  the  same  time,  but  also  sly  and  crafty.  The 
women  are  small  and  delicate,  with  small  bosoms,  long, 
oval  face,  and  mild  expression. 

This  general  type  of  the  Roumanian  peasant,  at  large, 
seems,  not  unnaturally,  to  be  to  his  taste ;  what  he 
likes  in  a  figure,  is  its  being  tall  and  slender  :  "  Tall  and 
slender,  as  if  drawn  through  a  finger  ring,"  what  makes 
the  beauty  in  a  face,  are  eyes  and  eyebrows  : — 

"For  eyes  like  the  blackberries 
I  ramble  round  the  woods, 
For  meeting  eye -brows 
I  walk  over  half  the  country 
And  through  a  third  of  Moldavia; 
For  eyes  like  the  holy  sun 
I  roam  aimlessly  at  night."  * 

Costumes. 

The  Roumanian  nation  has  her  costume  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation,  well  preserved  in  the 
mountains,  but  not  quite  so  well  in  the  plains,  especially 


'  Pentru  ochi  ca  murele 
Ocolesc  padurile 
Pentru  sprincene  'nchinate 
Umblu  ^ara  jumatate 
^i  Moldov'a  treia  parte; 
Pentru  ochi  ca  sfintul  soare 
Umblu  noaptea  pe  razoare." 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE     113 

in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  towns.  The  dress 
of  the  men  is  much  more  uniform  than  that  of  the 
women,  and  also  plainer  and  easier  to  describe.  The 
fundamental,  characteristic  feature  of  it,  is  the  colour, 
always  white.  These  garments  are :  (a)  trousers,  of 
woollen  or  hemp  tissue,  of  various  cuts,  the  most  charac- 
teristic of  them  being  the  so-called  itzari,  very  long 
tight  trousers,  something  like  twice  the  length  of  the 
leg,  but  then  gathered  up  in  thin  folds  all  along  the 
leg  to  which  they  tightly  fit.  (b)  The  shirt,  of  flax, 
hemp,  cotton,  or  even  rough  silk  white  tissue,  hanging 
tunic-like  over  the  trousers,  fastened  at  the  waist  with  a 
broad,  long  red  woollen  sash  called  briu,  or  by  a  leather 
belt,  (c)  In  the  way  of  coats,  the  Koumanian  peasant  has 
a  great  variety  of  garments,  and  with  extremely  varied 
names,  the  most  common  being  the  suman  of  brown 
woollen  tissue,  and  the  cojoc  or  sheepskin,  {d)  As  head- 
gear the  Koumanian  peasant  wears  the  cdciulay  a 
lambskin  cap,  usually  black,  of  which  a  curious  variety 
is  the  cdciula  turcaneascd,  long,  perhaps  thrice  the  ordinary 
size,  worn  with  the  top  hanging  on  one  side.  Hats  are 
also  worn,  in  summer,  but  only  black,  strong  felt,  large 
brimmed  hats,  trimmed  round  the  top  with  ribbons 
and  pearls.  (e)  For  the  feet  they  have  the  opincij 
sandals,  of  cattle  or  pig's  hide,  shoes  and  boots.  Truly 
speaking,  the  sandal,  the  opinca,  belongs  to  the  mountain, 
being  very  elastic  and  convenient  for  climbing;  in  the 
plain  it  is  only  used  as  being  a  light  and  cheap  footgear. 
The  boots  are  the  footgear  par  excellence ;  and  they 
must  have  high,  strong  heels  too.  The  heel  is  very 
important  for  the  dance  on  a  Sunday,  to  beat  the  ground 
furiously  with — 

'*  Be  the  sandal  ever  so  good, 
Like  the  boot  it  cannot  sound ; 
And  the  upper-leathered  boot* 


*  "  Fie  ochinca  cit  de  buna 
Ca  ciubota  nu  mai  suna; 
^\  ciubota  caputata 


114         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Were  good  if  it  were  not  holed : 
But  on  the  sandal,  the  poor  one, 

I  put  a  clout 

To  the  dance  I  go 
And  I  still  shout  once,  hop  I  "  * 

The  women's  dress  is  still  more  varied  and  elaborate. 
Roughly  speaking,  it  is  composed  of  a  shift,  reaching  to 
the  ankle,  with  embroideries  on  all  the  upper  part,  with 
coloured  cotton,  chiefly  red  and  black ;  and  of  a  catrinfaf 
a  petticoat,  in  its  way,  which  is  of  as  many  varieties 
as  are  the  valleys  between  the  mountains,  or  rather 
the  mountain  rivers,  for  the  catrintza  belongs  to  the 
mountain,  in  the  plain  they  wear  skirts.  Coats  they 
wear  similar  to  those  of  the  men — often  the  same :  for 
the  feet  they  have  shoes ;  they  wear  sometimes,  in  bad 
weather,  their  husbands'  boots,  but,  as  a  rule,  they 
go  barefooted.  On  the  head  they  wear  the  §tergar,  a 
kind  of  veil,  of  cotton  tissue  with  silk  stripes,  or  of  silk 
with  cotton  designs. 

The  important  feature  about  the  costume,  is  that  it 
is  entirely  home  made,  and  all  women's  industry.  But 
if  the  national  costume  is  still  very  well  preserved  in 
the  mountains,  it  is  not  so  in  the  plains.  Here,  field- 
labour,  making  so  great  a  demand  on  available  arms, 
women  cannot  be  spared  to  spin  and  weave,  to  grow 
hemp  and  flax,  and  attend  to  silkworms ;  moreover  they 
find  ready  stuffs  in  the  towns,  which,  although  not 
wearing  half  so  well  as  the  homespun,  are  nevertheless 
much  cheaper;  more  than  that,  clothing  and  under- 
clothing are  becoming  more  and  more  easy  to  be  had 
in  towns.  The  peasant  sees  at  the  "  Jew's  shop  "  shirts 
and  garments  hanging  up,  which,  although  not  exactly 
the  cut  he  is  used  to,  are  nevertheless  nearly  so;  he 
buys  them,  puts  them  on — and  so  national  costume 
is  dying  out  little  by  little,  taking  in  the  long  run  some 

=>''  Buna  ar  fi  cind  n'ar  fi  sparta. 
Dar  ochinca  saraca 
li  pui  potlog 
Ma  due  la  joe 
Si  tot  strig  o  data,  hop  I " 


North  Carpathian  Dress.        [Photo,  Al.  Antoniu. 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE  SOCIAL  SCALE    115 

other  appearance,  but  never  the  cut  of  the  town  garment, 
for  which  he  still  feels  a  natural  aversion. 

With  the  Valachs  of  the  Pindus,  the  costume  has  still 
some  fundamental  features  common  with  that  of  the 
Carpathian.  Here  also,  the  national  costume  is  preserved 
in  the  mountains,  consequently  by  the  shepherds, 
constituting  as  we  know  the  bulk  of  the  Armln  popu- 
lation, whilst  the  Armini  of  the  plain — merchants, 
tradesmen,  workmen — have  adopted  the  costume  of 
the  surrounding  peoples.  This  costume,  with  slight 
differences,  is  pretty  similar  to  that  of  the  Carpathian 
region.  In  the  regions  of  the  Pindus  also,  the  cheap 
wares  are  bought  in  town,  and  take  the  place  of  the 
otherwise  entirely  home-made  garments. 

The  Armin,  like  the|  Koumanian,  is  just  as  keen  as 
he  can  afford  to  be  about  a  good  garment.  Not  that  a 
Eoumanian  peasant  thinks  over  much  of  dress  : — 

"  It  is  not  by  the  cloak  one  judges  a  man."  * 

But  a  careful  dress  is  a  good  introduction  : — 

"  The  worth  of  a  man  is  recognisable  by  his  dress."  f 

And  then  among  young  folks,  dress  is  a  great  compli- 
ment to  beauty.  Scorched  by  the  sun,  with  her  hair 
smoothed,  limp  and  tightly  plaited  on  the  head,  the 
girl  will  cover  herself  with  no  end  of  strings,  and  pins, 
and  flowers,  and  necklaces  of  beads  and  coins  for  the 
Sunday  dance,  looking  almost  ridiculous,  if  she  did  not 
look  so  candidly  happy  and  innocent.  But  after  all, 
taste  is  quite  an  individual  matter,  and  the  Eoumanian 
peasants  well  agree  that — 

"He  is  not  handsome  who  believes  himself  so, 
But  handsome  is  who  has  good  looks ;  | 

'f'  "  Nu  dupa  cojoc  se  judeca  omul." 
f  "  Vrednicia  omului  se  cunoa§te  dupa  port." 
I  "Nu-i  frumos  cine  se  ^ine 
Ci-i  frumos  cui  ii  sta  bine  ; 


116        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

He  is  not  handsome  who  adorns  himself 
But  he  is  so,  when  his  garb  is  becoming."  * 

The  Roumanian  peasant  highly  appreciates  cleanliness 
in  dress.  No  more  important  a  thing  than  a  dirty  shirt 
seems  to  have  inspired  following  song  : — 

"  Little  blade  of  black  grass, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear. 
Why  do  you  wear  your  shirt  dirty? 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear, 
I  wear  it  so  as  I  like  it, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear, 
For  my  beloved  is  ill, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear,f 


sung  on  the  following  sweet  melody : 


^Tf^' 


*  Nu-i  frumos  cin'*  se  igate^te 
Ci  e  cui  se  potrive^te." 

f  "  Firi^or  de  iarba  neagra 

Draga,  draguli^a  draga, 
De  ce;  por^i  camera  ineagra  ? 

Draga,  draguli^a  draga, 
la  o  port  c'  a§a  mi-i  draga 

Draga,  draguli^a  draga, 
Ca  mi-i  iubita  bolnava 

Draga,  draguU^a  draga, 


THE  PEASANT  IN  THE   SOCIAL  SCALE    117 

And  she  suffers  in  her  hand, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear, 
She  has  not  washed  for  a  month, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear. 
Let  me  then  wash  it  for  you, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear, 
With  water  from  yonder  stream, 

Dear,  0  little  dear,  dear."  * 


^i-i  bolnava  zeu  de-o  mana 

Draga,  draguli^a  draga, 
N'a  spalat  came^i  de-o  luna 

Draga,  draguli^a  draga. 
Da-o  'ncoace  s'o  spal  eu 

Draga,  draguli^a,  draga, 
Cu  apa  de  la  parau 

Draga,  draguH^a,  draga." 


CHAPTEE   III 
THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE 


Of  the  whole  Eoumanian  nation,  spread  and  scattered 
about  from  Carpathian  to  Pindus,  hardly  one  half  live 
under  a  Government  of  their  own;  the  other  half, 
in  smaller  or  larger  portions,  are  subjected  to  seven 
various  foreign  States,  all  differing  in  organisation  and 
institutions.  To  enter  into  details  here  would  be 
impossible,  and  our  only  aim  is  to  treat  the  question 
generally,  or  in  principle,  so  to  speak;  to  sketch  out 
the  duties  and  rights  of  peasants  in  the  State,  and  to 
indicate  the  feelings  aroused  in  them  by  those  duties 
and  rights.  No  doubt  (as  in  the  preceding  chapters) 
the  interest  must  centre  in  Free  Boumania,  on  the 
eastern  and  southern  slopes  of  the  Carpathians,  where 
the  Roumanians  have  succeeded  in  building  up  a  State 
of  their  own,  a  home  of  their  own. 

To  the  peasant's  mind  a  State  is  personified  more 
or  less  in  the  person  of  the  monarch;  whatever  he  is 
called  upon  to  do  for  his  State  he  considers  it  to  be 
done  for  the  Domnitoriu,  the  "prince"  or  "ruler," — the 
appellation  of  Bege  (King),  of  little  more  than  twenty 
years'  standing,  is  rather  slow  in  entering  thoroughly 
into  the  peasant's  vocabulary.  For  a  long  time  past, 
Moldavia  and  Valachia  have  been  under  the  absolute 
rule  of  an  absolute  voyevode,  or  Domn,  or  Bomnitor, 
briefly  called  only  vodd ;  no  wonder  that  the  notion 
should  have  taken  such  hold  of  people's  imagination. 
For  those  under  foreign  rule,  surely  not  Austro-Hungary, 

118 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        119 

still  less  Kussia,  was  meant  to  unteach  the  old  lesson ; 
the  tmparatul,  the  Emperor,  unmistakably  represents 
the  State  in  those  regions — it  is  useless  to  discuss  Turkey, 
although,  as  far  as  it  goes,  the  idea  of  State  or  Govern- 
ment could  hardly  be  anywhere  looser  than  in  Turkey. 
His  duties  towards  the  State  the  peasant  thus  considers 
as  duties  towards  the  monarch,  and  these  are,  as  of  old, 
military  service  and  taxation. 

"  He  who  devised  soldiery 
May  the  wilderness  eat  his  flesh, 
And  poverty  his  own  children, 
The  crows  may  eat  up  his  bones, 
Upon  all  the  fields."  ^= 

The  first  duty  of  a  peasant — as  well  as  of  a  townsman 
— when  he  comes  of  age,  is  to  **draw  lots"  to  become 
a  soldier,  to  take  upon  himself  the.  duty  of  defending 
the  country,  of  being  ready  to  give,  at  any  moment,  blood 
and  life  for  it.  As  far  as  love  of  land  goes,  and  readiness 
to  strike  and  receive  blows  in  the  defence  of  land,  history 
is  there  to  bear  witness  that  the  Roumanian  has  ever 
been  a  patriot  and  a  brave  man.  As  for  the  warlike, 
fighting  spirit,  the  Roumanian  has  never  been  blood- 
thirsty ;  without  desire  of  conquests,  the  Roumanian  has 
always  been  anxious  to  protect  his  own  abode,  leaving 
alone  that  of  others ;  invasions  and  plunder  have  never 
been  in  his  line,  except  now  and  then  as  reprisals. 
Conquests  the  Roumanians  have  never  made,  except  of 
each  other,  when  Stephen  the  Great,  Voyevode  of 
Moldavia,  conquered  a  portion  of  Valachia,  and  pushed 
his  boundary  to  the  Milcov — but  this  should  be  called 
an  early  step  toward  union  rather  than  conquest. 

Looking  back  over  history  we  find  the  Roumanians 
to  have  been  thorough  soldiers  at  the  times  of  Mircea 

'^'  "  Cine-a  starnit  catania 
Manca-i-ar  carnea  pustia 
§i  copiii  saracia 
Cioarele  ciolanele 
Pe  toate  ogoarele." 


120         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

(Valachia),  and  Stephen  (Moldavia),  both  "great,"  both 
mihtary  geniuses  perhaps,  but,  after  all,  the  victories  they 
won  were  not  won  with  their  heads  alone,  but  with  the 
ready  arms  of  their  subjects.  And  they  had  arms  ready 
enough,  those  subjects,  and  wanted  no  special  training 
and  hardly  any  calling  out  to  run  to  the  frontier  to 
defend  the  fatherland.  In  those  times  the  peasants  were 
free,  and  had,  moreover,  their  own  properties,  and  the 
defence  of  the  patria  was  not  a  mere  abstract  notion, 
but  a  very  positive  concrete  one ;  the  patria  or  mo§ia 
was  nothing  else  than  the  aggregate  of  all  the  minor 
individual  mo§ii  (lands,  estates) ;  everybody  defending 
the  whole  was  conscious  of  defending  his  own  small 
piece.  No  training,  no  provisions,  no  weapons,  the 
monarch  had  to  provide  for  nothing,  but  just  call  out 
the  people  to  meet  him — the  boiars  and  the  yeomen  on 
horseback,  the  landless  peasants  on  foot.  The  soldiers 
had  to  provide  for  their  own  clothing,  their  armament, 
their  food.  Mounted  on  their  nags,  on  wooden  saddles 
with  oaken  stirrups,  with  wheaten  bread  and  a  burduf 
(the  skin  or  stomach  of  a  sheep)  of  cheese  in  the  bag 
hanging  at  the  saddle's  bow,  on  they  rushed ;  strong,  and 
daring,  and  heedless,  armed  only  with  the  primitive  bow, 
the  battle-axe,  the  lance,  and  in  most  cases  only  vdth 
the  national  ghioaga  (club),  they  were  indomitable  on 
the  battlefield,  those  simple,  common  people,  just  freshly 
come  from  the  plough.  The  Polish  writers  of  those 
times  might  well  admire  such  genuine  braves,  and  they 
did  it,  too,  over  and  over  again.  "  Dreaded  men,  and 
very  brave,  and  there  is  hardly  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth  another  people,  who  for  warlike  glory  and  by 
heroism  were  able  to  defend  a  smaller  country  against 
a  larger  number  of  foes,  attacking  and  repelHng  them 
repeatedly" — that  is  the  general  tone  with  regard  to 
Roumanian  soldiery. 

But  we  know  what  the  economic  and  social  relations 
came  to  in  the  long  run:  with  the  coming  down  of 
the  peasantry,  down  comes  also  patriotism  and  bravery. 
The  subjected  peasant  has  henceforth  to  work  for  the 
boiar;  this  latter  does  not  want  to  waste  his  ''working 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        121 

powers"  on  battlefields,  and  the  peasant  can  afford  to 
go  to  war  no  more.  Peasants  are  left  out  of  the  armies, 
which  begin  to  be  composed  only  of  mercenaries,  who 
formerly  were  to  be  met  with  in  the  Koumanian  armies 
only  accidentally,  and  only  in  small  numbers.  Michael 
the  Brave  had  only  mercenaries  :  he  fell — with  all  the 
estates  he  had  heaped  on  his  boiars,  they  deserted  him 
at  the  critical  moment ! 

The  mercenaries  were,  no  doubt,  largely  Eoumanians, 
the  peasants  who  still  remained  free,  and  runaway  serfs  ; 
Eoumanians  still,  but  the  spirit  had  changed ;  they  fought 
for  money,  they  had  no  interest  whatever  in  the  war, 
which  is  the  monarch's  own  affair ;  the  only  interest 
was  to  escape  safe  and  sound,  and  possibly  to  strive  for 
some  reward  at  the  end,  and  to  do  the  enemy  as  much 
harm  as  possible,  in  order  to  plunder  him — poor  incentives 
as  compared  with  those  of  the  good  old  times  of  liberty  ! 

"With  the  installation  of  the  Phanariote  rulers,  wars 
are  entirely  dropped,  armies  are  of  no  avail;  the 
Eoumanians  may  as  well  forget  to  fight — the  haidook 
alone  keeps  alive  the  memory  of  it.  The  princes  want 
no  more  armies ;  the  only  thing  they  want  is  a  body- 
guard, and  this  they  make  up  of  strong  vagrants  from 
beyond  the  Danube,  especially  Albanians,  who  under  the 
name  of  Arnautzi,  in  their  special  uniform  with  the 
white  fustanella,  and  a  belt  full  of  pistols,  armed  to 
the  teeth,  were  in  charge  of  the  prince's  person  and 
wealth.  There  was  no  longer  a  national  army  in  either 
principality ;  and  yet  this  is  the  period  of  the  greatest 
Eusso-Turkish  wars,  and  it  appears  that  the  Eussian 
armies  were  pretty  well  furnished  with  Eoumanian 
volunteers  or  mercenaries,  gladly  going  to  fight  the 
pagan  oppressor.  Moreover,  there  are  documents  such 
as  the  letters  of  the  King  of  Poland,  August  II.,  to 
his  celebrated  son  Maurice  of  Saxony,  proving  that 
Eoumanians  served  in  foreign  armies,  Polish  and 
Swedish,  as  Hght  cavalry,  "  very  successfully,"  as  the 
King  writes,  praising  also  the  Eoumanian  horses. 

With  the  overthrow  of  Phanariotic  rule  and  the  revival 
of  national  spirit,  national  armies  began  little  by  little 


122  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

to  be  organised,  reaching  a  remarkable  development 
under  the  present  reign ;  and  in  the  last  war  of  in- 
dependence the  Eoumanians  were  able  to  prove,  under 
the  guidance  of  their  warlike  prince  (now  king), 
Charles  I.,  that  the  ancestral  bravery  was  not  dead, 
and  the  spirit  of  Great  Stephen  and  Brave  Michael 
seemed  to  be  hovering  above  them  still. 

The  Roumanian  can  fight,  and  no  mistake,  and  he 
certainly  does  not  fear  fire,  but  as  to  having  any 
particular  liking  for  it,  I  am  glad  to  say,  he  has  not ;  he 
much  prefers  a  quiet,  peaceful  life,  and  what  he  says 
of  the  gipsy  may  fit  himself  just  as  well.  Thus  a  gipsy 
soldier  was  told  that  he  had  to  go  to  war  to  fight  the 
Turks  or  some  other  enemies :  "  Well,  why  should  I 
fight  them?  I  have  no  quarrel  with  them!"  That  is 
exactly  it :  the  soldier  has  to  fight  without  being  clearly 
satisfied  as  to  the  why.  A  soldier  is  an  instrument, 
supposed  to  be  always  ready  for  action,  without  right 
of  inquiry  as  to  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  it.  To 
discipline  a  soldier  to  that  extent  takes  time.  The 
necessity  of  the  training,  the  transition  from  the  old, 
absolute  liberty  and  goodwill  service  to  the  enforced 
barrack  life,  with  the  wear  and  tear  of  years  of  long 
training,  have  told  heavily  upon  Roumanian  spirit,  and 
have  largely  contributed  to  make  the  army  a  terror  to 
the  Roumanian  peasant.  And  if  he  does  not  dislike  the 
army  in  itself,  what  he  deeply  dislikes  is  exactly  that 
training,  that  barrack  life,  which  takes  him  for  years 
away  from  his  field,  his  flocks,  his  cottage ;  this  it  is 
which  is  almost  unbearable  to  him,  and  he  will  do  all  he 
possibly  can  to  avoid  it. 

We  may  be  fairly  sure  that  barrack  life  is  not  apt  to 
leave  room  for  brilliant  illusions  in  any  country,  still  less 
in  Eastern  Europe,  where  civilisation  as  a  whole,  and  the 
education  of  the  upper  classes  in  particular,  is  very  often 
a  rather  misty,  tottering  affair,  just  good  enough  to  give 
those  who  have  it  an  elated,  shallow  idea  of  their  own 
personal  value,  and  not  many  right,  Christian  ideas  about 
anything  else.  And  persons  of  this  kind  are  entrusted 
with  the  care  of  men !     It  is  an  open  secret  that  the 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        123 

soldiers  as  a  rule  are  far  from  being  happy  in  the  barracks, 
but  it  is  a  blessing  when  it  can  be  stated  that  they  are, 
at  least,  fairly  treated,  something  like  human  beings ! 
Corporal  punishment,  although  prohibited  by  law,  was 
still  the  most  widespread  punishment  applied  to  soldiers 
in  training.  But  since  these  lines  were  written  a  royal 
decree,  an  order  of  the  day,  issued  on  the  occasion  of 
the  twenty-fifth  commemoration  of  the  proclamation  of 
Independence,  enforced  the  entire  suppression  of  corporal 
punishment  in  the  army.  The  soldiers  have  made  a 
talisman  of  that  decree ;  they  wear  it  on  their  breasts ; 
and  the  knowledge  of  it  will  penetrate  into  the  peasant's 
hut,  and  work,  no  doubt,  on  the  people's  minds,  and  besides 
the  surname  of  "  the  wise,"  that  seems  likely  to  be  added 
to  the  monarch's  name  in  more  cultivated  circles,  that  of 
"  the  good  "  will  perhaps  be  given  by  the  grateful  hearts 
of  his  humbler  subjects.  That  the  "  discipline"  should 
not  go  to  wreck,  it  is  the  business  of  the  upper  ranks 
in  the  army  to  devise  some  civilised  and  civilising 
means. 

Of  course  there  are  exceptions  :  there  are  humane  and 
able  officers,  with  some  comprehension  of  human  nature, 
who  deal  with  their  soldiers  accordingly,  but  I  am  afraid 
these  are  not  as  many  as  they  should  be.  Many  officers, 
on  the  contrary,  by  their  own  behaviour,  and  that  of 
those  subordinates  they  think  proper  to  push  on  to 
advancement,  are  a  vivid  illustration  of  the  truth  that 
bad  education  is  worse  than  no  education  at  all.  I  am 
not  going  to  enter  into  the  discussion  of  barrack  educa- 
tion, although  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  an  admirer  of 
it,  yet  I  allow  that  with  all  its  unavoidable  drawbacks 
it  might  give  good  results  in  the  way  of  spreading 
civilisation,  and  as  a  healthy  physical  training ;  but,  then, 
the  selection  of  the  ranks  above  the  mere  soldier  should 
be  much  more  carefully  made  than  it  is  now.  As  things 
are,  the  young  peasant  of  sufficient  age  is  very  much 
inclined  to  look  upon  barrack  life  as  a  martyrdom,  and 
that  is  why,  when  he  draws  lots  and  is  found  good,  he 
will  cry  and  his  mother  with  him,  and  his  friends  lament 
over  him  as  if  he  were  dead. 


124  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"Green  leaf  of  chervil, 
We  poor  young  lads, 
How  they  gather  us  from  vales, 
With  the  mayors  and  constables, 
And  they  drive  us  like  oxen, 
And  shear  us  just  like  sheep, 
And  mingle  our  hair  with  the  rubbish  1 
And  green  leaf  of  wild  thyme, 
My  hair  of  a  soft  yellow 
Under  the  feet  of  the  major, 
My  beautiful  curly  hair. 
Mother,  you  will  see  no  more."  ^^ 

So  many  feelings  are  hurt  in  him  ;  he  is  treated  like  an 
ox  or  a  sheep  in  a  flock ;  he  has  his  hair  shorn  close, 
which  he  likes  to  wear  in  a  rather  long  crop,  with  a 
fringe  in  front.  A  peasant  is  very  anxious  never  to 
throw  his  hair  away  in  the  rubbish  ;  he  takes  it  carefully 
when  cut,  and  buries  it  at  the  root  of  some  tree.  The 
drawing  of  the  lots  is  still  more  heartrending  when  the 
young  man  is  already  married,  as  is  often  the  case. 

"  Green  leaf  of  mellilot 
For  a  rifle  all  rusty 
I  left  house,  I  left  table, 
I  left  behind  a  fair  wife  f 


*  "Frunza  verde  baraboi, 
Sarmanii  de  noi  flacai, 
Cum  ne  strange  de  pe  vai, 
Cu  primari,  cu  vatajei, 
^i  ne  mina  ca  pe  boi, 
^i  ne  tunde  ca  pe  oi 
^i  ne  da  paru'n  gunoi. 
^'apoi  frunza  cimbri§or 
Parul  meu  eel  galbior 
Sub  picioare  la  maior 
Parul  meu  eel  mandru,  cre^, 
Mamuca,  n'  ai  sa-1  mai  vezil 

f  "  Frunza  verde  de  sulcina 
Pentru  o  pu^ca  de  rugina 
Lasai  casa,  lasai  masa 
Lasai  nevasta  frumoasa 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE         125 

With  two  babies  in  her  arms 
Who  are  crying :   father,  father  1  "  * 

The  soldier  in  the  barracks  is  ever  pining  after  his 
home ;  he  cannot  forget  all  he  has  left  behind,  the  life 
of  his  life,  all  that  which  he  grieves  to  think  will  come 
to  harm  in  his  absence. 

"  Only  leaf  of  hazel-nut 
He  who  will  take  the  rifle  in  hand 
Will  milk  no  more  ewes  in  the  fold  ; 
His  wooden  pails  will  mildew, 
His  scythe  will  rust  in  the  loft, 
His  house  will  be  deserted, 
His  fields  will  all  be  fallow, 
His  mother  will  become  old, 
His  beloved  become  insane 
His  children  perish  on  the  road  1 "  f 

The  young  recruit  is  no  doubt  rather  awkward  when 
he  comes  from  his  village  or  his  sheepfold ;  he  is  be- 
wildered by  all  the  new  things  he  has  never  seen  before, 
by  the  ways  and  manners  he  has  not  been  used  to ;  kind 
feeling  and  humane  behaviour  towards  him  would  surely 
have  a  much  more  improving  influence  than  harsh  treat- 
ment, which,  however,  is  generally  considered  so  much 
manlier  and  more  fit  for  the  rough  peasant.  But  rough- 
ness is  not  exactly  the  characteristic  of  the  Koumanian 
peasant,  neither  is  it  a  feature  of  the  Koumanian  soldier ; 
quite  the  reverse,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes  in  this 
respect — and  it  is  wide  enough — in  streets  or  on  roads, 

*  Cu  doi  copila^i  pe  bra^e 
Care  striga  :  tata,  tata  1 " 

f  "  Numai  frunza  §'o  aluna 
Cine-a  luat  arma  'n  mana 
N'a  mai  mulge  oi  la  stana; 
Galeata  i-a  mucezi, 
Coasa  'n  pod  i-a  rugini, 
Casa  i  s'a  pustii, 
Ogoru  i-a  'n^eleni, 
Maicu^a  i-a  'mbatrini 
Puicu^a  i-a  'nebuni 
Copii  pe  drum  i-or  peri  I " 


126  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

in  villages  or  open  fields,  the  private  can  easily  be  cited 
as  a  model  of  civility  and  decency  to  many  an  officer ; 
but  I  know  of  instances  of  great  impertinence  of  sergeants, 
who  seem  to  be  the  very  cioco'i  (the  parvenus  of  the  army), 
raised,  it  seems,  above  their  companions  much  more  by 
reason  of  the  blows  they  have  administered  to  their 
"  men  "  than  by  virtue  of  their  own  merit.  Mostly  also, 
they  are  towns-people.  Beyond  the  sergeant  there  is  no 
promotion,  except  through  a  special  course  of  study. 
The  education  of  the  officers  is  given  in  special  schools 
from  the  very  beginning. 

If  the  training  of  the  soldiers  has  its  drawbacks,  a 
greater  drawback  is  when  they  get  no  training  at  all,  or 
hardly  any,  and  that  is  the  case  with  those  who  are 
given  out  as  domestic  servants,  as  *'  orderlies,"  to  the 
officers,  where  they  get  a  training  of  humiliation  and 
domesticity,  instead  of  the  training  of  defenders  of  the 
fatherland.  It  is  quite  true,  that  personally,  soldiers  are 
sometimes  better  off  in  that  condition  than  at  the  barracks, 
but  that  again  is  only  the  exception,  and  a  rare  exception. 
In  most  cases,  what  sort  of  work  has  not  the  poor  de- 
fender of  his  country  to  do,  and  what  becomes  of  his 
character,  and  of  the  patriotic  ideals  he  is  expected  to 
develop  ?  And  bad  as  the  manners  of  the  officer,  his 
master,  are  towards  him,  those  of  his  mistress  are  very 
often  ten  times  worse.  ''  Well,"  you  may  hear  them  say, 
"the  Domnul  might  have  been  good  enough  in  his  way, 
but  the  Duduha  (the  lady)  was  dreadful !  "  Surely,  if 
the  soldier  finds  sometimes  in  the  house  of  his  officer  an 
elevating,  moral  atmosphere  (as  he  sometimes  indeed 
does),  as  a  rule,  and  not  in  the  worst  cases,  he  is  in 
a  degrading  atmosphere,  being  either  a  man-of-all-work, 
or  else  like  the  hard  labouring  ass  in  the  yard.  Besides, 
domestic  service  has  never  been  in  favour  with  the 
Roumanian  peasant. 

Unpleasant  as  the  barrack  life  may  be  for  the  peasant, 
it  is  none  the  less  true  that  some  good  points  may  be 
found  in  it.  There  are  peasants  who  come  home  from 
the  army  really  improved,  with  a  knowledge  of  reading 
and  writing  acquired  in  the  barracks,  and  with  a  large 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        127 

knowledge  of  other  things,  of  which  he  has  much  to  say. 
The  soldier  has  gone  about  a  good  deal,  he  learns  to  know 
his  country,  and  when  he  comes  back  he  is  looked  upon 
as  a  world-traveller,  and  is  eagerly  questioned  and  listened 
to,  when  he  tells  about  places  and  things  he  has  seen; 
and  how  proud  and  wise  he  looks  in  the  eyes  of  the 
bewildered  audience  when  he  is  able  to  say  that  "  he  has 
been  as  far  as  Bucharest,"  and  that  "  he  has  himself  kept 
watch  on  the  Bomnitor  himself  !  " 

The  fact  is,  in  places  where  soldiers  returned  from 
military  service  have  brought  with  them  the  idea  that  the 
army  is  not  bad,  that  officers  are  humane,  and  the  service 
not  too  hard,  the  feeling  for  the  army  and  military  service 
is  well  on  the  way  to  taking  a  good  turn.  It  is  in  the 
very  nature  of  children  and  youths  to  like  the  army  and 
soldiers !  Their  animal  spirits  incline  them  to  say : 
*'  Surely,  we  shall  go  to  the  army,  for  if  we  did  not,  who 
will  ?  the  old  ?  "  And  their  emotions  are  also  kindled  by 
war  stories,  told  by  those  who  have  come  back  from  the 
last  war,  which  are  very  inspiriting  to  youth,  and  they 
look  forward,  gladly  fighting  *'the  Turk,"  the  traditional 
Turk ;  and  greatly  puzzled  they  are  to  hear  that  politics 
have  changed,  and  that  the  Turk  has  to  be  looked  upon 
henceforth  as  a  friend.  And  humour  enters  sometimes 
into  the  matter,  as  witness  the  following  anecdote. 

In  the  last  war,  it  is  known  that  one  of  the  regiments 
which  particularly  distinguished  itself  by  dash  and  daring, 
and  also  by  heavy  loss  of  life,  was  the  13th  Eegiment 
of  the  Borohantzi,  known  also  under  the  nickname  of 
curcani  (turkey-cocks),  because  of  that  bird's  feather 
adorning  their  black  cdciula.  Now,  the  anecdote  tells  us, 
the  Sultan,  hearing  of  all  the  havoc  done  among  his 
own  troops  by  these  dreadful  curcaniy  was  very  anxious  to 
have  one  brought  to  him  that  he  might  see  what  they 
were  like.  But  catching  a  curcan  was  just  as  difficult  as 
catching  the  mountain  eagle,  his  attendants  said,  and  all 
they  could  do,  was  to  bring  to  the  Sultan  the  garments 
of  such  a  curcan.  As  the  Sultan  sat  on  his  divan,  the 
servants  stretched  on  the  floor  in  front  of  him,  the  long 
trousers,  the  itzari — those  worn  gathered  up  the  leg,  and 


128  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

at  least  twice  its  length —  ;  from  the  belt  upwards,  they 
stretched  the  supposed  coat,  in  this  particular  case  a 
cloak,  coming  down  below  the  knee.  On  top  of  it,  they 
put  the  long  bonnet,  the  cdciula  turcdneascd,  and  at  the 
bottom  of  the  trousers,  the  top-boots.  At  sight  of  such  a 
size,  the  amazed  Sultan  only  sighed  heavily,  and  said  that 
of  course,  against  such  giants,  what  could  his  poor  soldiers 
do.  Later  on,  an  officer  came  to  announce  to  the  Sultan, 
that  a  cur  can  had  been  caught  at  last,  and  would  be 
brought  before  His  Majesty.  And,  as  the  Sultan  sat 
there,  with  his  elbow  leaning  on  pillows,  with  his  coffee 
by  him  and  his  tchibouk  between  his  lips,  the  brave, 
fearless  curcan  advanced  with  his  body  leaning  forward, 
stepping  steadily  and  heavily  as  his  wont  was — according 
to  the  training  of  that  time — and,  arrived  in  front  of  the 
Sultan,  he  stretched  himself  full  length,  and,  with  the 
hand  to  his  cockade,  he  shouted  loudly:  '' Sd  trditi" 
C'  May  you  live  !  '')*  The  bewildered  Sultan  fell  on  his 
back,  shrieking  desperately  :  "  Help,  help,  the  turkey-cock 
is  eating  me  up  !  " 

In  verse,  also,  the  Roumanian  soldier  has  not  forgotten 
to  celebrate  the  war  for  independence;  not  much  has 
been  collected  to  my  knowledge,  but  this  one  I  am  able 
to  give  : — > 

"Little  leaf  of  sand-cudweed  I 
Every  town  has  its  luck, 
Plevna  alone  is  ablaze 
With  Osman  Pasha  in  its  middle  1 
The  Pasha  cries  out  aloud: 
Come  on,  Turks,  come  on  quickly  f 


*  "  May  you  live  1 "  is  the  salute  used  by  soldiers  when  speaking  to 
superiors. 

f  ''Frunzulilia  siminocl 
Tot  ora§u-i  cu  noroc, 
Numai  Plevna  arde  *n  foe 
Cu  Osman  Pa^a  la  mijloc; 
Striga  Pa^a  'n  gura  mare : 
Sari^i  Turci,  sari|)i  mai  tare, 


Y 

m^ 

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"^sT 

m 

m  ^^.. .  . 

THE  A 

:RSiTY  )) 

^         JJ 


■^L 


fFOl 


THE   PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        129 

For  Charles  has  arrived  down 

Like  the  Sun  when  he  rises, 

With  great  number  of  army 

Dressed  up  in  oil-cloth, 

Firing  and  bombarding 

And  asking  after  Osman,  ^ 

With  ^' Curca/ni''  and  '^ Dorohantisi" 

Who  wither  you  to  the  liver 

They  cut  us  down  and  kill  us 

That  not  one  will  leave  this  land. 

From  Plevna  to  Eustchiouk 

Nothing  but  heads  of  Turks; 

From  Plevna  to  Vidin 

Thousands  and  thousands  of  Koumanians  pass."* 


II 

"The  peasant  brings  abundance  in  time 
of  peace,  and  glory  in  time  of  war." 

(Prince  N.  Bibbscu.)! 

The  second  duty  of  a  citizen  towards  the  State,  is 
to  pay  taxes.  In  Free  Eoumania,  the  yearly  tax- 
ation of    a  landless   peasant  is   something  like  fifteen 


*  C  'a  sosit  Carol  in  vale 
Ca  soarele  cind  rasare, 
Cu  o^tire  suma  mare 
Imbracata  'n  mu^amale, 
Impu^cand  §i  bombardand 
^i  de  Osman  intreband ; 
Cu  curcani  §i  doroban^i, 
Ce  te  saca  la  fica^i; 
Ei  ne  taie,  ne  omoara, 
De  nu  mai  ie^im  din  ^ara 

De  la  Plevna  la  Busciuc 
Numai  capete  de  Turc ; 
De  la  Plevna  pan'la  Dii 
Tree  Bomanii  mil  §i  mii." 

f  "  "iparanul  aduce  belong  in  timp  de  pace  §i  gloria 
in  timp  de  rasboiii." 

(Prin^ul  N.  Bibescu. — Discurs  parlamentar,  Feb.  1889.) 
10 


130  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

shillings,  a  little  below  twenty  francs  a  year.  This  is 
the  taxation  of  a  townsman  as  well,  and  this  is  the 
taxation  of  any  man  without  property.  He  may  have  an 
income,  he  may  have  any  amount  of  cash  at  the  banker's, 
no  man  in  Roumania  pays  a  farthing  more  than  the 
poorest  of  peasants.  The  taxes  cannot  really  be  called 
heavy ;  it  is  their  unfairness  that  is  their  drawback.  And 
as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  gather,  this  is  the  draw- 
back to  taxation  generally,  all  over  the  continent,  for  no 
country,  I  believe,  except  England,  has  the  income-tax. 
But  there  is  a  talk  of  income-tax  in  Roumania,  and 
may  be  its  realisation  is  not  half  as  far  off  as  it  seems 
to  be. 

Those  who  own  land  pay  much  heavier  taxes,  according 
to  quantity,  to  quality,  to  the  situation  of  the  land,  and 
to  the  act  by  which  they  received  it.  To  give  figures, 
even  approximately,  would  mean  nothing ;  suffice  it  to 
say,  that  taxation  does  not  appear  particularly  heavy, 
perhaps  not  heavy  at  all,  in  fortunate  years  and  with 
good  harvests  ;  but  then  the  prospect  changes  altogether 
when  the  years  are  bad,  and  unfortunately  this  is  not 
seldom  the  case.  There  come  bad  years,  and  there  come 
very  bad  years,  and  then  the  peasant — as  well  as  the 
gentleman,  for  the  matter  of  that — does  not  take  out  the 
value  of  the  seed  he  has  put  into  the  soil ;  where  is  he 
then  to  get  any  profit  at  all  to  pay  taxes  ?  And  there 
come  misfortunes,  deaths  and  such  like  ;  and  there  come 
happy  events  like  weddings,  christenings,  &c.,  and  money 
is  wanted,  and  the  expense  cannot  be  put  off,  and  the 
peasant  borrows.  In  the  best  case,  he  will  greatly  under- 
sell his  labour  for  the  next  summer  to  his  landlord,  or  to 
a  farmer,  but  often  he  will  borrow  from  usurers,  who  are 
never  lacking  in  any  corner  of  the  world,  and  it  has  been 
calculated  that  there  are  places  where  peasants  pay  up 
to  200  per  cent,  interest  to  usurers  !  Surely  in  such  cases, 
times  are  hard  with  good  or  bad  harvests.  Of  course, 
one  is  always  inclined  to  say,  the  peasant  might  be 
more  thrifty ;  and  spend  less,  or  else  be  provident, 
and  save  when  he  can  towards  the  possible  time  when 
he  may  be  in  need.     Yes,  thrift  is  a  beautiful  word ;  the 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE   STATE         131 

Eoumanian  peasant  has  put  it  into  a  formula  of  his 

own  : — 

"  Save  white  money  for  black  days  "  * 

But  that  is  mere  theory.  The  practice  is,  that  the  average 
Eoumanian  is  not  thrifty,  or  provident,  by  nature.  He 
seems  to  have  an  innate  contempt  for  money,  which  he 
is  very  apt  to  spend  by  anticipation ;  there  is  a  need  of 
freehandedness,  of  Hving  ostentatiously,  about  the  Eou- 
manian, which  rather  attests  a  noble,  *'  boiarly  "  nature. 
But  it  is  a  drawback  too,  no  doubt ;  a  drawback  that  may 
be  improved  in  time,  by  education,  by  example  from 
above,  but  up  to  now,  it  is  true  that  if  the  Eoumanian 
peasant  may  be  accounted  a  patient,  uncomplaining 
being,  he  cannot  boast  of  being  a  prudent  one.  And 
past  history  can  easily  explain  this  state  of  things.  It  is 
only  the  present  generation  that  has  not  been  plundered 
by  the  hands  of  Greek  or  Turk ;  before,  it  was  absolutely 
useless  to  save,  for  the  savings  were  sure  to  be  for  the 
benefit  of  others ;  it  seemed  better  to  have  nothing.  In 
the  present  day,  there  is  a  general  feeling,  repeatedly 
expressed  even  in  Parliament,  that  taxation  as  a  whole  is 
far  from  being  as  fairly  distributed  as  it  should  be,  and 
that  it  falls  far  heavier  on  those  who  have  little  than  on 
those  who  have  much ;  in  other  words,  the  rich  are  taxed 
too  little,  and  the  poor  too  much.  This,  as  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  gather,  is  the  general  state  of  things  with 
all  the  Eoumanian  people  at  large.  Income-tax  may  do 
much  to  improve  it. 

Ill 

With  military  service  and  payment  of  taxes,  the 
peasant  has  done  his  duty  towards  the  State,  roughly 
speaking.  In  return  he  is  entitled  to  all  sorts  of  paternal 
care  :  administration,  justice,  the  Church,  medical  assist- 
ance, school ;  all  these  he  receives  direct  from  the 
State,  in  the  free  kingdom.  And,  first  and  foremost ;  he 
contributes  to  the  formation  of  the  Government  itself, 
which   contribution  is  his  duty  and  privilege  as   well. 

*  "  Strange  bani  albi  pentru  zile  negre." 


132  FEOM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Thus,  every  peasant  who  has  come  of  age,  who  pays 
the  smallest  tax  (that  is,  who  is  not  a  pauper),  and 
who  is  not  a  domestic  servant,  has  the  right  to  give  his 
vote  at  the  elections  for  the  Chamber  of  the  Deputies 
— not  for  the  Senate.  They  vote  for  the  third  College. 
Those  who  pay  a  tax  of  upwards  of  300  frs.  a  year, 
or  can  read  and  write,  are  entitled  to  a  direct  vote ;  the 
others  only  vote  by  delegacy ;  a  delegate  for  every  fifty 
peasants.  So  far,  so  good  :  the  peasants  are  represented 
in  the  legislative  bodies,  they  take  part  in  the  making 
of  their  own  laws.  But  that  is  a  mere  figure  of  speech. 
In  fact,  one  may  well  ask  how  far  a  Parliament  is  a 
true  representation  of  a  nation  even  in  Western,  civilised 
countries,  let  alone  a  small  Eastern  country,  with  a 
Parliament  not  half  a  century  old  !  Political  habits  are 
slow  to  take  root,  and  those  who  know  what  elections 
and  representation  mean  in  old  and  large  countries,  may 
easily  imagine  what  they  may  be  in  a  country  with 
so  young  a  political  education  and  habits.  Truly,  elec- 
tions mean  very  little — if  anything — beyond  administra- 
tive business.  The  peasant  does  not  care  for  politics; 
what  he  wants  is  to  be  treated  fairly,  to  have  justice 
done  to  him,  and  he  is  content  if  he  gets  that.  If  told 
that  elections  are  a  means  to  provide  that  for  him,  well 
then,  he  votes.  Peasants  hardly  ever  care  about  the 
representative  they  elect;  as  a  rule  he  is  a  person  im- 
posed on  them,  a  person  whom  they  hardly  ever  know 
or  are  interested  in,  or  have  any  trust  in.  Of  late 
there  has  been  a  talk  about  universal  suffrage,  but  it 
is  argued  that  the  country  is  not  ripe  for  it,  and  I  dare 
say  it  is  not ;  it  has  been  argued,  too,  that  the  electors 
would  not  be  conscious  of  their  votes,  but  it  seems  to 
me  this  argument  can  hardly  stand  in  face  of  the 
question :  Are  at  least  half  of  the  present  voters — town 
and  country — conscious  of  their  votes?  Moreover,  are 
the  representatives  themselves  all  conscious  of  their 
mandate?  Until  these  questions  have  been  fairly 
answered,  universal  suffrage  may  have  its  claims,  especi- 
ally having  the  advantage  that  it  might  make  corruption 
harder,  making  it  more  expensive. 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE   STATE        133 

The  peasants  have  also  the  right  to  elect  their  com- 
munal authorities,  mayor  and  communal  council,  but 
here  also  administration  interferes,  here  also  it  is  party 
business.  Here  also  the  peasants,  without  the  slightest 
notion  about  political  colour  or  shade,  find  themselves 
fatally  divided  into  Liberals  and  Conservatives,  according 
to  the  person  they  are  made  to  support.  But  here  also 
there  is  much  more  interest  on  the  voters'  side,  as  a 
mayor  is  something  more  palpable  than  a  deputy;  it 
is  quite  true  that  with  all  their  voting  they  hardly  ever 
get  the  right  person — interference  is  so  pressing  and  by 
so  many  means.  Also  peasants  are  often  disgusted  at 
this  mere  formality,  and  have  to  be  brought  to  the 
ballot  by  entreaties  and  often  by  force.  And  yet  it 
would  not  be  right  to  say  that  rather  than  such  vote 
better  no  vote  at  all.  No,  an  institution,  be  it  ever  so 
badly  managed,  if  good  in  itself,  is  always  capable  of 
improvement  in  time,  while,  where  the  institution  does 
not  exist,  what  is  there  to  improve  upon?  Let  people 
have  rights,  all  rights  ;  let  them  even  neglect  them,  a 
time  will  come  when  they  will  become  conscious  of  them, 
will  understand  them,  and  be  able  to  use  them  for  their 
own  and  the  general  benefit,  whilst  a  country  of  un- 
franchised peasants  and  of  moral  slaves  will  breed 
nought  but  slaves. 

The  Eoumanians  under  foreign  Government  have 
no  political  rights.  In  Transylvania  they  are  striving 
hard  to  get  them,  but  only  with  indifferent  success  and 
much  sacrifice,  till  now.  To  put  things  clearer,  a  short 
digression  will  be  needed,  I  fear.  The  Austro-Hungarian 
Empire  is  known  to  be  a  patchwork  of  lands  and  nations, 
till  it  really  would  be  difficult  to  give  it  a  name,  if  one 
wished  to  be  just  towards  all.  Hungary  itself  is  made 
up  of  Hungarians  and  Szecklers,  Eoumanians,  Saxons, 
Servians,  Slavs,  Croatians,  Italians,  who  have  by  degrees 
fallen  under  their  authority  by  conquest  or  willing 
submission  (as  the  Croatians).  The  old  Hungarian 
kingdom  breathed  its  last  on  the  battlefield  of  Mohaczi 
in  1526,  when  half  of  the  kingdom  fell  under  Austria, 
and  the  other  half,  consisting  of  the  subjected  province 


134  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

of  Transylvania  and  a  portion  of  Hungary,  came  under 
the  authority  of  Sultan  Soliman  II.,  under  the  name 
of  the  "  autonomous  principality  of  Transylvania.'* 
A  little  later,  the  Sultan  conquered  Buda-Pesth  and 
organised  there  a  downright  Turkish  province,  the 
''Pashalik  of  Buda,"  which  lasted  more  than  a  century 
and  a  half.  This  state  of  things  was  put  an  end  to 
only  in  1699  ;  in  the  meanwhile,  the  Prince  of  Tran- 
sylvania yielded  to  the  Austrian  Emperor — Emperor 
of  Germany  then — the  bit  of  Hungarian  ^land  that  was 
still  in  his  power,  and  was  recognised  as  independent 
Prince  of  Transylvania.  Towards  the  Turks,  Transylvania 
was  a  vassal,  never  more — a  wavering  vassality  too. 
After  many  wars  between  Austria  and  Turkey,  Tran- 
sylvania was  conquered  by  Austria  and  incorporated  as 
an  independent  province  with  the  Empire,  and  the 
nineteenth  century  found  her  still  in  this  situation. 

The  Austrian  conquest  changed  nothing  in  the  internal 
constitution  of  the  country;  the  three  ruling  privileged 
nations — Hungarians,  Szecklers,  Saxons — only  had  repre- 
sentatives in  the  country's  Diet,  which  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Government  of  the  province;  the  Roumanian 
peasants  were  still  kept,  together  with  the  Hungarian 
peasants,  in  serfdom  by  the  nobles  notwithstanding  all 
the  attempts  of  Maria-Theresa  and  her  son  Joseph  II. 
to  emancipate  them.  We  have  seen  the  bloody  rising 
of  1785,  and  its  apparent  success,  which,  however,  was 
only  on  paper,  so  that  serfdom  remained  as  severe 
as  ever. 

But  with  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  western 
wind  brought  a  new  breath  of  liberty  all  over  Europe, 
down  into  the  East.  National  spirit  is  astir ;  all  nations 
stand  up  to  assert  their  right  to  live  their  own  life.  In 
the  complicated  Austrian  Empire,  all  the  various  races 
and  nations  lift  their  heads ;  all  want  to  be  reckoned 
as  something,  too,  besides  the  ruling  Austrian.  The 
Hungarians,  aroused  by  hopes  of  independence  and 
liberty,  begin  to  prepare  to  strengthen  their  ranks,  and 
although  their  speech  was  only  of  liberty  and  nationality, 
they  decide  to  assert  their  own  dominion  over  all  the 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        135 

peoples  living  in  their  old  kingdom.  Thus,  in  1780  already, 
the  Diet  of  Transylvania  voted  that  the  Hungarian  lan- 
guage should  be  substituted  for  Latin  in  all  State  affairs, 
and  that  it  should  be  taught  in  all  schools.  At  the  same 
time,  feeling  that  the  difficulty  would  arise  in  Transyl- 
vania, v^here  the  Hungarians  v^ere  the  smallest  nation, 
they  tried  to  bring  about  the  official  union  of  the 
province  of  Hungary,  but  the  attempt  came  to  nought 
then. 

From  1825  the  Hungarian  agitation  begins  to  take 
a  set  course,  with  men  at  its  head,  like  the  patriotic 
Szekeny,  who  set  a  patriotic  example  by  presenting  his 
whole  income  for  a  year  (60,000  florins)  to  found  a 
Hungarian  academy.  The  plan  was  to  denationalise 
the  non-Hungarians  by  slow,  pacific  means;  to  attract 
the  foreign  element  by  the  same  bait  by  which  the 
Roumanian  nobility  of  old  had  been  coaxed  into  the 
Hungarian  bosom,  namely,  by  enticing  promises  and  by 
the  granting  of  rights  and  advantages  to  all  those  who 
could  learn  the  Hungarian  tongue.  The  Hungarian  nobles 
were  rather  against  these  methods,  which  they  considered 
as  an  intrusion  upon  their  privileges ;  however,  the 
party  of  Szekeny  constituted  itself  under  the  name  of 
the  national-liberal  party,  and  went  on  w^ith  its  work 
of  Magyarisation.  It  worked  marvellously ;  the  non- 
Hungarians  did  not  appear  to  see  the  trap ;  and  they 
did  not  realise  that  they  were  to  forget  their  own  lan- 
guage, in  the  long  run,  and  were  exceedingly  grateful 
for  the  advantages  offered ;  and  the  Roumanians  took  to 
the  bait  too,  for  they  readily  allow  that — 

"You  take  more  flies  with  a  spoonful  of  honey 
than  with  a  cask  of  vinegar,"  ^^' 

and  they  learned  Hungarian  with  strenuous  zeal,  especi- 
ally encouraged  by  the  united  f   Roumanian  bishop,  a 


'^  "  Mai  multe  mu^te  prinzi  cu  olingura  de  miere  decdt  cu  un 
poloboc  de  o^et." 

f  The  united^  that  is,  the  Koumanians  of  Greek  rite  who  have 
joined  in  some  of  the  dogmas  of  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church. 


136  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Hungarian  creature.  Fortunately  the  Hungarians 
changed  their  tactics.  The  younger  party,  with  Louis 
Kossuth  at  its  head,  did  not  agree  in  the  least  with  this 
temporising  method,  and  decided  that  what  they  wanted 
was  to  make  everybody  Hungarian  at  once.  In  ten 
years  at  latest,  everybody  ought  to  know  Hungarian ; 
this  language  was  to  be  used  not  only  in  official  matters, 
but  in  private  ones  too ;  in  church ;  in  school,  in  the 
family,  everywhere.  The  Roumanians  took  the  hint, 
and  offered  resistance — Kossuth  saved  Roumanism,  in 
the  educated  classes  at  least,  where  it  was  in  greatest 
danger. 

On  the  other  hand,  under  Kossuth's  leadership  the 
national  enthusiasm  of  the  Hungarians  rose  to  a  pitch 
never  heard  of  before.  If  the  other  nations  had  known 
nothing  of  liberty  and  nationalism,  they  might  have 
learned  it  from  the  Hungarians.  Oh,  but  it  was  not 
meant  thus  !  The  Hungarians  wanted  freedom  for 
themselves,  but  others  were  not  allowed  to  wish  for 
it !  With  a  logic  unique  in  the  world,  the  Hungarians 
denied  violently  to  others  the  rights  they  loudly  claimed 
for  themselves  :  Slavs,  Croatians,  Servians,  Saxons,  Rou- 
manians, had  to  become  Hungarians  if  they  wanted  to 
live,  and  Acts  passed  repeatedly  voted  the  enforcement 
of  the  Hungarian  language  in  all  business  of  public  and 
private  life.  The  scheme  of  infant  schools  for  children 
three  years  old  with  Hungarian  teachers  was  a  Kossu- 
thian  idea.  Any  means  to  reach  the  end :  a  free,  united, 
consistent  Hungary  was  the  watchword.  All  very  fine, 
and,  I  dare  say,  the  Roumanians  would  not  have  much 
to  say  against  it,  as  far  as  Hungary  was  concerned,  but 
the  Hungarians  wanted  it  to  include  Transylvania  also, 
and  consequently  decided  to  incorporate  Transylvania 
with  Hungary. 

The  Revolution  of  1848  was  started  by  the  Hungarians 
proclaiming  a  constitution,  expressed  in  unmistakably 
fine  words  about  liberty  and  suppression  of  privileges, 
and  suppression  of  serfdom ;  and  Transylvania  was  to  be 
represented  by  sixty-nine  deputies,  who,  however,  were  to 
be  only  Hungarians,  Szecklers,  Saxons,  not  a  single  Rou- 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        137 

manian — and  that  in  a  country  where  the  Koumanians 
represent  60  per  cent.,  the  Hungarians  and  Szecklers 
together  27  per  cent.,  the  Saxons  10  per  cent.,  and  other 
nations  3  per  cent.  Still  the  old,  unjust  hatred,  and  that 
because  the  land  had  belonged  to  the  Koumanians,  and 
had  been  taken  away  from  them;  quite  so  :  man  is  much 
more  inclined  to  forgive  one  who  has  wronged  him  than 
one  whom  he  has  wronged !  but  that  is  not  the  righteous 
man.  Together  with  the  proclamation  of  the  said  con- 
stitution, stringent  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  the 
other  nations  from  manifesting  their  opinions ;  a  severe 
law  against  the  press  was  voted.  But  among  the  other 
nations,  besides  the  Koumanians,  the  Croatians,  the 
Servians,  and  the  Saxons  themselves — who,  although 
a  privileged  nation,  did  not  want  to  be  severed  from 
Austria — began  to  give  vent  to  their  feelings,  through 
the  press  and  meetings,  and  while  everybody  else  was 
pretty  free  to  act  as  he  liked,  the  Koumanians  alone  were 
violently  denied  the  right  to  write,  to  speak,  or  to  meet. 
As  for  the  Croatians,  the  Hungarians  tried  every  means, 
and  for  a  time  with  success,  to  make  them  friends. 
However,  some  forty  thousand  delegates  of  the  Kou- 
manian  people  succeeded,  with  all  the  spokes  put  in 
their  wheel,  in  meeting  on  the  15th  of  May,  in  the  field 
since  then  called  ''Liberty  field,"  near  Blaj,  and,  with 
much  order  and  composure,  passed  the  resolution  not 
to  accept  union,  and  to  be  on  the  side  of  the  Emperor 
in  the  struggle  at  hand.  But  when  the  Diet  actually 
met  at  Cluj,  on  the  union  business,  it  was  surrounded 
with  such  display  of  force  and  violence  that  even  the 
twenty-two  Saxon  deputies  who  were  against  it,  gave 
their  vote  for  union  for  very  fear  of  being  massacred  on 
the  spot,  and  thus  the  Hungarians  could  emphatically 
announce  that  the  union  of  Transylvania  and  Hungary 
had  been  voted  "  unanimously "  by  the  Diet.  Hence- 
forth the  Hungarians  start  the  most  cruel  persecutions 
against  their  opponents ;  men  are  killed  like  so  many 
partridges,  the  Koumanians  answer  in  no  milder  way; 
civil  war  is  ablaze. 
The  war  was  long  and  destructive  of  human  life ;  the 


138  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

Roumanians,  badly  armed,  badly  trained  for  war,  badly 
led  by  the  Austrians,  themselves  so  badly  organised,  were 
beaten — the  intervention  of  Russia  saved  Austria  from 
imminent  disaster. 

Once  Austria  safe,  surely  the  fate  of  her  friends  could 
not  be  entirely  neglected.  Transylvania  became  once 
more  an  autonomous  province  of  the  Empire,  and  in 
1863  the  Emperor  gave  this  province  the  most  liberal 
constitution  she  ever  had.  A  Diet  was  elected  accord- 
ingly and  sat  for  two  years  in  Sibin  as  the  legislative 
body.  But  by  Hungarian  machinations  it  came  to  be 
dissolved;  a  new  one,  exclusively  Hungarian,  met  again  at 
Cluj,  and  at  once  voted  again  the  union  of  Transylvania 
with  Hungary.  Austria  gets  entangled  in  her  war  with 
Prussia ;  attention  cannot  be  spared  for  Transylvania. 
After  Sadowa,  the  weakened,  vanquished  Austria  could 
not  but  accept  divided  power  with  the  strong,  untouched 
Hungary,  and  "  dualism "  was  instituted.  The  Rou- 
manians protested  against  the  illegitimate  union,  with 
no  success.  However,  the  Emperor  and  King  again 
snatched  from  his  Magyar  subjects  a  few  rights  in  favour 
of  the  non-Hungarians  of  Transylvania,  to  which  the 
Magyars  pretended  to  agree.  The  "law  for  the  equality 
of  rights  for  all  nations  of  Hungary  and  Transylvania  " 
was  written  down  but  remained  a  dead  letter ;  the 
Hungarians  began  again  to  speak  of  one  nation  in  the 
whole  kingdom,  namely,  the  Hungarian  nation,  which 
was  to  be  once  more  the  nation  of  all.  This  "  law  of 
the  nations"  was  only  meant  to  throw  dust  in  the 
world's  eyes ;  in  fact,  the  Hungarians  created  for 
Transylvania  an  electoral  system,  which,  with  the  aid  of 
the  administration,  succeeded  in  the  year  1887  in  electing 
a  Diet  in  which  out  of  four  hundred  and  seventeen 
deputies  only  one  was  Roumanian,  in  a  country  where 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  population  are  Roumanians  ;  in  a 
country  where  so  much  blood  has  been  spilt  for  rights 
and  liberty  !  The  Roumanians  could  not  see  any  way  to 
better  measures  for  the  future,  than  that  of  totally 
abstaining  from  the  elections — and  surely,  "  the  gallant 
little  nation  "  of  the  Hungarians  may  well  say  that  if  the 


A  Well  in  the  Plain.  \_Photo,J.  Cazaban. 


ce  page  138. 


THE   PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        139 

Koumanians  have  no  representatives  in  the  Diet,  it  is 
only  their  fault? 

And  yet,  what  the  Boumanian  people  really  does  want, 
and  strives  for,  is  not  poHtical  rights;  the  Koumanian 
peasants  only  want  to  be  acknowledged  as  free  Roumanian 
beings  and  be  left  alone  to  develop  and  live  unharassed, 
unpersecuted,  un wronged,  according  to  their  own  spirit 
and  nature,  in  the  language  and  beliefs  of  their  fathers 
and  forefathers.  But  that  is  not  allowed  them.  And 
that  is  why  the  Roumanians  must  struggle  for  political 
rights  in  order  to  secure  the  other  advantages,  and 
that  is  why  they  are  now  resuming  the  political  struggle. 
The  situation  is  hardly  bearable,  indeed.  The  Hun- 
garians, not  satisfied  with  having  changed  the  geographi- 
cal names  all  over  the  country  into  Hungarian  names, 
are  Magyarising  the  names  of  the  people  and  of  the 
children  at  school !  Kept  out  of  all  official  situations,  even 
in  their  own  communes,  they  must  know  and  write  only 
Hungarian ;  no  case  before  a  magistrate,  however  right 
it  may  be,  is  accepted  if  not  written  in  Hungarian. 
Why,  peasants  have  been  shot  because,  having  been 
addressed  in  Hungarian  by  the  gendarmes,  they  were 
unable  to  give  an  answer  !  The  smallest  function,  down 
to  railway  porter,  is  withheld  from  all  not  having 
Hungarian  names  and  not  speaking  Hungarian.  In 
schools,  Hungarian  is  enforced,  and  infant  schools  have 
been  opened  to  take  in  children  three  years  old  from 
their  mothers  in  order  to  bring  them  up  as  Hungarians. 
The  peasants  being  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the 
Roumanian  population,  they  are  the  most  persecuted ; 
even  charitable  associations  are  not  allowed  to  be  started 
by  Roumanians.  And  if  they  raise  their  voice  to  complain, 
the  Roumanians  are  threatened  with  being  **  swept  away 
from  the  country" — -their  own  country,  eight  centuries 
before  the  Magyars  came  in  from  Asia ! — as  "  ungrateful 
and  perfidious."  And  the  Hungarians  are  themselves 
astonished,  they  say,  that  between  themselves  and  the 
Szecklers  they  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  annihilating 
that  troublesome  nation  !  But  the  Roumanians  can  hear 
a  good  deal. 


140  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

In  Bukovina,  under  direct  Austrian  rule,  the  Rou- 
manians are  on  equal  footing  with  the  Germans,  and 
their  representatives  sit  in  the  Viennese  Parliament. 
Roumanians  and  Germans  are  so  much  the  more  friendly 
in  that  province  because  there  is  a  strong  current  at 
work,  through  the  numerous  Ruthenians,  who  have 
rushed  into  Bukovina  since  the  time  of  the  union  of 
Bukovina  with  GaHcia,  which  they  both  feel  a  need  to 
struggle  against.  Bukovina  has  had  great  attractions 
for  her  neighbours ;  while,  at  the  time  of  the  incorpora- 
tion with  Austria,  the  Roumanians  made  up  by  far  the 
greatest  majority  of  the  population,  to-day  they  only  form 
the  relative  majority,  35  per  cent.  Roumanians,  30  per 
cent.  Ruthenians,  the  rest  Germans  and  a  mixture.  As 
the  popular  poet  sadly  sings : — 

"And  she  is  full  of  foreigners 
As  the  grass  is  full  of  brambles, 
And  she  is  as  full  of  foes 
As  the  stream  is  full  of  stones. 
And  the  sympathy  of  the  stranger 
Is  like  the  shade  of  the  teasel: 
When  you  try  to  get  into  shade, 
The  worse  you  are  burnt  up."  ^^^ 

In  Bassarabia — that  is  to  say,  in  Russia — who  has  any 
rights  to  speak  of  ?  Turkey  is  out  of  the  question  in  that 
respect — although  some  slight  improvements  may  have 
been  noticed  of  late. 

IV 

"Two  men  walking  up  a  road  found  a  bag  of  corn. 
Each  of  them  thought  himself  in  the  right  to  claim  the 
larger  part  of  the  contents,  and,  unable  to  come  to  an 

*  "  §i  e  plina  de  straini 
Ca  iarba  de  maracini, 
^i  e  plina  de  du^mani 
Ca  iarba  de  bolovani. 
§i  mila  strainului 
E  ca  umbra  spinului 
Cind  vrei  ca  sa  te  umbre^ti 
Mai  tare  te  dogore^ti." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        141 

agreement,  they  decided  to  call  upon  a  judge,  who  should 
judge  them  '  according  to  God's  law.'  The  judge  bandaged 
his  eyes,  then  taking  some  corn  with  both  hands  he  gave 
it  to  one  of  the  parties,  while  the  whole  remnant  of  the 
bag  he  gave  to  the  other,  saying :  *  That  is  God's  justice ; 
to  some.  He  gives  much — so  much  sometimes  that  they 
hardly  know  what  to  do  with  it;  to  others,  on  the 
contrary,  He  does  not  even  allow  mere  sustenance.  Had 
you  asked  for  human  justice,  I  should  have  divided 
measure  by  measure,  but  you  have  asked  God's  justice 
and  have  got  it.     "  God's  purposes,  no  one  knows."  '  " 

"An  unjust  reconcilement  is  better  than  a  just  judgment,"* 

says  the  proverb,  for — 

"Whoever  goes  to  pray  to  the  saint,  must  bring  him  taper  and 
incense; "  f 

and  be  sure  that 

"  If  your  pint  is  full,  your  sentence  will  also  be  good,"  | 

and 

"On  golden  wheels  turns  the  law,"§ 

and  so  on.  Many  proverbs  tend  to  show  how  little 
confidence  a  peasant  has  in  law  and  justice.  Of  course, 
he  is  ready  to  believe  that : — 

"What  is  right,  pleases  God  also,"  || 

and  will  even  go  the  length  of  taking  the  optimistic  view 
that — 

"Eight  comes  out  on  the  surface  like  oil;  "IT 


*  "Mai  bine  o  impacare  str^mba,  decat  o  judecata  dreapta." 
f  "  Cine   se   duce   sa   se   roage    sfantului,   sa-i  duca  luminare  §i 
tamaie." 

I  "Daca  ^i-i  ocaua  plina,  ^i-i  §i  judecata  buna." 
§  "Pe  roate  de  a\ir  se  invarte^te  legea." 

[I  "Ce-i  drept,  si  lui  Dumnezeu  ii  place." 

II  "Dreptatea  iese  ca  untdelemnul  pe  deasupra." 

/ 


142  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

but  experience  has  taught  him  that  this  is  not  invariably 
the  case,  and  philosophically  he  has  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  absolute  justice  is  impossible,  and  that  one 
ought  to  be  contented  with  relative  justice,  or  a  fair 
compromise  between  the  parties  at  strife,  allowing 
that — 

"Neither  the  wolf  to  be  hungry, 
Nor  the  ewe  to  have  two  lambs."* 

But,  of  course,  all  these  proverbs  are  more  or  less  old, 
and  it  would  be  unfair  to  apply  them  wholesale  to  the 
present  state  of  things.  Not  that  a  man  may  not  be 
wronged  by  the  justice  of  the  present  day;  men  are 
wronged  every  day,  but  that,  not  by  the  judge's  fault,  but 
by  the  fault  of  justice  itself,  which,  by  the  multiplication 
and  complication  of  laws  and  procedure,  has  created  such 
a  deep  gap  between  real  a>iid  formal  right ;  and,  of  course, 
the  poor  man,  who  knows  nothing  about  formalities  and 
procedure,  is  much  inclined  to  think  that  the  judge  has 
wronged  him,  to  please  the  other  party,  who,  he  is  apt  to 
think,  has  probably  bought  him,  for — 

"  Money  is  the  devil's  eye."  f 

So  much  the  more  will  his  diffidence  be  aroused,  when 
his  opponent  is  a  gentleman,  like  the  judge  himself ;  no 
doubt  he  will  think — 

"A  crow  does  not  pick  out  the  eyes  of  another  crow."  | 

Still  more,  justice  and  law-suits  imply  in  most  cases  the 
need  of  lawyers  or  barristers-at-law ;  when  these,  whose 
number  is  legion,  take  in  hand  the  bringing  to  light  of 
the  just  and  unjust,  the  peasant  may  well  throw  over- 
board all  ideas  of  justice  in  despair,  and  fall  into  any 
arrangement  rather  than  go  into  a  law-suit. 

*  "  Nicl  lupul  flam^nd, 
Nici  oaiea  cu  doi  miei." 

f  *'Banu-i  ochiul  dracului." 

I  "  Corb  la  corb  nu  scoate  ochii." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        143 

Thanks  to  procedure  and  formalities,  law,  meant  to  be 
the  protection  of  the  weak,  becomes  rather  the  protection 
of  the  strong,  who  can  afford  an  able  lawyer,  sure  to  be 
up  to  all  the  requirements  of  procedure ;  and  who,  more- 
over, will  always  find  some  legal  means  of  winning  even 
an  unjust  case.  That  is  why  the  peasant  will  hardly  ever 
dare  to  go  to  law  with  his  superior,  the  boiar,  for, 
says  he, 

"He  who  can,  gnaws  bones;  he  who  cannot,  (gnaws)  not  even 
soft  meat,"  * 

and, 

"  The  ox  cannot  measure  himself  with  the  bufTalo ;  "  f 

and  therefore  he  is  ready  to  make  it  up  with  the  boi'ar  as 
best  he  can,  to  his  own  disadvantage,  in  nine  cases  out 
of  ten. 

The  lowest  court  of  law  is  held  by  the  primary  the 
mayor  of  the  village;  the  small  differences  of  the 
peasants  are  judged  by  him  and  his  councillors  at  the 
primaria,  the  mayoralty.  This  is  done  in  a  rather 
patriarchal  way,  and  if  the  primar  is  an  honest  man,  a 
"man  with  the  fear  of  God,"  the  peasants  have  nothing 
to  complain  of ;  but  it  happens  that  he  is  sometimes  the 
reverse  of  that,  and  often  a  creature  of  the  boi'ar;  and, 
still  worse  sometimes,  it  happens  that  the  boiar  himself 
is  the  mayor  of  the  place — the  pasha  of  the  place,  rather. 
Woe  to  the  peasant  then  : — 

"Woe  when  the  wolf  becomes  keeper  to  the  sheep  1 
He  sheares  the  wool  and  skin  withal  1 "  | 

A  second  court  of  law  is  presided  over  by  the  *' Judge 
of  peace,"  of  whom  there  is  one  in  every  district,  residing 
in  some  small  country  town,  or  even  in  a  village,  where 

*  "  Cine  poate,  oase  roade ;  cine  nu,  nici  carne  moale." 
f  "Boul  nu  se  poate  pune  cu  bivolul." 
I  "Vai  cand  ajunge  lupul  same^  la  oil 
Le  tunde  lana  cu  piele  cu  tot  1  " 


144  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

there  are  no  proper  towns.  Such  a  judge,  invariably 
a  licentiate-at-law,  that  is  to  say,  a  university  graduate, 
seems  to  do  his  duty  well,  as  a  rule,  but  being  a  young 
man,  in  expectation  of  the  quickest  possible  advancement, 
mostly  disgusted  with  having  to  spend  his  time  in  a 
small,  dull  place,  his  relations  with  the  peasant  are  on 
the  whole  of  the  most  distant  nature.  And  yet  their 
work  is  very  interesting,  and  I  have  understood  that 
sometimes  it  really  is  well  done ;  occasionally  only, 
it  is  true,  but  the  good  examples  may  find  imitators  in 
time.  In  my  rambles  about  the  country  I  have  often 
had  occasion  to  hear  peasants  talk  quite  judiciously 
about  various  matters,  and  when  asked  about  the  origin 
of  their  knowledge,  "It  is  a  judge  of  ours  that  told  us 
that ;  "  or  again  :  "  We  have  heard  it  from  the  procurer.'* 
In  connection  with  that,  I  am  pleased  to  add,  repeated 
tributes  are  paid  to  the  ready  teaching  power  of  young 
civil  engineers,  from  whom  absolutely  uneducated 
peasants  had  learned  and  were  able  to  repeat  correct 
ideas  about  steam  engines,  balloons,  electricity  and  such- 
like. From  all  this  it  appears  that  among  the  young 
educated  men,  whom  their  occupations  draw  to  the 
country,  there  are  noble  and  judicious  ones,  who  do 
not  think  it  beneath  their  station  to  talk  with  peasants 
and  explain  to  them  things  of  which  they  might  other- 
wise have  a  quite  wrong  opinion,  not  from  stupidity 
or  natural  ignorance,  as  is  often  believed,  but  simply 
from  want  of  talking  over  the  matter  with  people  more 
enlightened  than  themselves. 

Far  greater  awe  have  the  peasants  of  the  third  court 
of  law,  the  "  tribunals,"  for  which  the  peasant  has 
to  go  to  larger  towns,  capitals  of  districts  only,  where 
he,  as  a  rule,  feels  himself  ill  at  ease  and  as  awkward 
as  can  be.  If  the  judge  happens  to  address  him  kindly, 
he  takes  it  as  a  blessing ;  otherwise  he  seems  dominated 
by  the  feeling  that  the  judge  could  at  any  moment 
turn  him  out  of  the  court  as  an  intruder.  There  is,  it 
is  true,  a  means  of  dispensing  with  the  stamped 
paper,  but  this  only  for  the  poorest  of  peasants  who 
can  produce  an  attestation  of  pauperism ;  such  attesta- 


THE   PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        145 

tions,  however,  are  only  issued  by  the  mayor,  and  at 
his  own  discretion.  The  procedure  is  very  minute 
and  rigorous,  and  the  peasant  will  often  see  in  amaze- 
ment that  he  has  lost  his  law-suit  because  some  small 
point  of  procedure  has  not  been  fulfilled,  although  his 
rights  are  as  plain  as  dayhght ;  this,  of  course,  is 
not  apt  to  strengthen  his  confidence  in  justice  or 
judges. 

For  crimes,  there  is  a  jury ;  two  sessions  yearly  are 
held.  Criminality  seems  to  have  been  mild  enough 
to  permit  the  suppression  of  the  death  penalty,  with 
the  new  constitution  of  the  Free  Kingdom.  Even  hard 
labour  for  life  is  seldom  made  use  of,  the  highest  penalty 
being  mostly  hard  labour  for  limited  times,  twenty  years 
or  so,  in  the  salt  mines,  worked  entirely  by  criminals. 
Crimes  are  perpetrated,  of  course,  and  are  due  in  most 
cases  to  drunkenness,  in  which  state  the  peasant  will 
strike  his  opponent  unmindful  of  consequences,  and 
the  blow  very  often  causes  death.  Otherwise,  the 
Koumanian  does  not  kill  willingly.  Even  with  the 
greatest  thieves,  it  has  been  almost  always  found  that 
if  they  killed  they  were  only  moral  authors  of  the  crime ; 
for  the  act  itself  they  always  had  the  help  of  some 
tzigan  (gipsy).  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  when  capital 
punishment  was  in  use  there  never  was  a  Eoumanian 
willing  to  take  the  place  of  hangman ;  he  was  always  a 
gipsy.  Even  to-day  the  largest  number  of  criminal 
cases  are  due  to  gipsies. 

In  Transylvania  and  Hungary,  from  the  official  statistics 
themselves  it  is  evident  that  there  is  least  crime  among 
the  Roumanians.  As  to  the  question  if  there  is  fair 
justice  for  the  Roumanian  people  in  Transylvania,  it 
would  be  waste  of  time  to  enter  into  the  question,  seeing 
that  all  the  judges  are  Hungarians  and  knowing  also 
the  humane  feelings  they  cherish.  As  a  sample  of  fair 
justice,  the  so-called  *'  Memorandum  law-suit "  in  1892 
may  serve.  The  leaders  of  the  Roumanians,  sick  of  the 
political  grievances  they  were  suffering  from,  decided 
to  defend  their  rights  in  a  legal  way  ;  consequently,  they 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  a  "memorandum,"  in  which 

11 


146  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

they  complained  of  the  injustice  done  them,  and  of  the 
unjust  appHcation  of  the  Imperial  constitution.  A  depu- 
tation was  sent  to  Vienna,  which,  however,  was  not 
received  by  the  Emperor  and  King.  The  deputation  left 
a  sealed  copy  of  the  memorandum  for  the  Emperor, 
but  this  was  soon  returned  to  them  with  the  answer 
that  the  Emperor  did  not  wish  to  know  what  it  was 
about !  So  much  does  the  monarch  seem  to  be  King 
of  the  Hungarians  rather  than  Emperor  of  his  other 
subjects  !  But  that  is  not  all.  A  campaign  of  persecu- 
tion was  started  against  the  members  of  the  committee, 
beginning  with  unlawful  breaking  into  their  houses 
and  pulling  these  to  the  very  ground ;  they  all  had  to 
flee  for  their  lives.  Moreover,  an  action  was  brought 
against  them  for  having  complained,  and,  after  a  mock 
trial,  they  were  sentenced  to  five  years'  imprisonment 
Surely,  if  anywhere  in  the  world  the  Roumanian  has 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  an  "unjust  reconcilement 
rather  than  a  right  judgment,"  Hungary  seems  to  be 
the  place. 

The  Roumanians  of  Free  Roumania  have  a  code  of 
laws  only  since  the  time  of  the  constitution,  1866 ;  it 
is  the  French  code.  Before  that  they  had  various 
codes,  all  partial  and  incomplete.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  they  have  always  had  the  customary  law,  the 
Obiceiul  pdmintului,  the  "usage  of  the  soil,"  of  which 
unfortunately  no  account  was  taken  in  the  introduction 
of  the  new  foreign  code.  For,  although  it  may  have 
had  its  drawbacks,  it  had  luminous  points  of  justice 
in  it,  and  besides,  it  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  very 
nature,  the  very  blood  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  soil, 
and  to  it  they  cling  closely  still,  in  their  private  affairs, 
when  circumstances  do  not  bring  them  before  the 
justice  of  the  code. 

The  first  attempt  at  legislation  is  not  older  than  the 
seventeenth  century ;  before  that,  people  lived  under 
the  "  customary  law,"  of  which  little  is  known  at  the 
present  day.  As  far  as  penal  offences  go,  crimes  were 
private,  not  public  offences,  and  a  crime  could  always 
be  made  up  with  money  paid  to  the  party  interested. 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        147 

If  a  man  was  found  murdered,  and  the  murderer  was 
not  found  out,  the  whole  village  had  to  pay  a  collective 
fine.  With  money,  one  could  escape  capital  punishment ; 
on  the  other  hand,  it  seems  that  one  could  very  easily 
be  sentenced  to  it.  As  to  civil  affairs,  that  seems  to 
have  been  a  fair  traditional  law  which  gave  equal  right 
to  inheritance  in  the  wealth  of  the  parents  to  all  children, 
boys  and  girls,  legitimate  and  illegitimate  children, 
showing  a  strong  feeling  of  justice,  set  above  any  other 
social  or  political  consideration  ;  it  was  a  just  law  which 
made  the  wife  the  natural  inheritor  of  the  husband's 
wealth,  to  the  making  of  which  she  had  surely  contri- 
buted, this  even  when  the  wife  was  not  legitimised  by 
an  official  wedding  ;  and  this  "  soil's  habit,"  the  peasants 
hold  to  even  to-day,  when  they  are  not  impeded  by  law, 
and  illegitimate  unions  are  frequent  enough,  especially 
in  the  case  of  second  marriages,  when  an  official  wedding 
seems  to  the  peasant  almost  ridiculous.  If  a  daughter 
was  married  at  the  time  of  the  parent's  death,  and 
had  got  her  dowry,  she  had  no  more  right  to  the  inheri- 
tance, were  it  even  such  as  to  entitle  her  to  a  large  share ; 
on  the  other  hand,  no  return  of  the  dowry  was  enforced, 
even  if  it  were  larger  than  the  other  children's  share. 
In  case  of  debts,  the  first  claim  upon  the  inheritance 
was,  as  it  is  to-day,  the  creditor's.  In  matters  of  landed 
property,  whoever  wished  to  sell  an  estate,  small  or  large, 
could  not  do  so  without  having  asked  all  his  relatives 
in  the  first  place,  the  neighbouring  rdzdshi  in  the  second, 
if  they  would  not  buy  it  themselves.  If  he  neglected 
to  do  so,  such  relatives  or  neighbours  could  always  have 
it  resold. 

As  to  procedure,  if  it  is  intricate  and  awkward  to-day, 
it  was  surely  hardly  fairer  in  the  old  times.  The  absent 
party  invariably  lost  the  case.  But  the  right  of  appeal 
was  entirely  at  the  prince's  mercy,  and  the  result  was 
that  a  law-suit  might  be  prolonged  through  generations, 
or  for  ever.  The  principle  of  res  judicata  seems  to 
have  been  unknown  in  civil  as  well  as  in  criminal  cases. 
Each  change  of  a  prince  was  a  ready  occasion  for  the 
re-opening  of  a  law-suit,  and  one  was  never  sure  to  have 


148  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

done  with  it,  and  not  be  judged  again  and  perhaps 
condemned,  even  to  capital  punishment.  How  much 
room  was  left  for  injustice  one  may  easily  imagine; 
hence  the  popular  proverb — 

"  Justice  is  as  princes  make  it."  * 

In  old  times,  proof  was  rarely  given  by  written  docu- 
ments ;  the  usual  means  of  proving  a  case  was  by 
witnesses.  In  those  times  of  perpetual  change  and  in- 
security, of  want  of  papers  and  of  documents,  it  seems 
that  the  human  word  had  the  greatest  value  in  the 
imparting  of  justice.  Belief  in  honesty  must  have 
been  great  indeed  to  found  a  sentence,  penal  or  civil, 
merely  on  witnesses.  Perjury  was  strongly  punished, 
but  it  appears  that  liars  were  not  so  numerous  that 
people  should  ever  have  lost  their  faith  in  witnesses. 

Most  of  the  cases  seem  to  have  dealt  with  the  delimi- 
tation of  property ;  in  the  fear  of  a  possible  contest,  the 
proprietors  found  it  necessary  to  have  reliable  witnesses, 
knowing  exactly  where  the  boundary  lay,  and  able  to  bear 
certain  witness  in  case  of  emergency ;  to  impress  the 
thing  on  the  young  generation,  the  following  method  was 
in  use.  Youths  and  children  from  twelve  years  of  age 
upwards  were  taken  to  the  boundary  of  the  land,  and  for 
each  mark-stone  laid,  were  treated  with  a  smart  pulling 
of  the  hair,  o  pdruiald,  meant  to  prevent  them  from  ever 
forgetting  the  remarkable  stone. 

To  the  present  day  the  peasant  is  fond  of  the  attestation 
of  his  rights  by  witnesses. 

Another  means  of  proving  in  justice,  introduced,  it  is 
supposed,  under  German  influence,  through  the  Slavs, 
but  fitted  to  Roumanian  ideas,  are  the  so-called  jurdtori 
(jurators  or  swearers) .  These  were  not  witnesses  to  the 
facts  of  the  case,  but  simply  supporters  with  their  affir- 
mation in  favour  of  the  party  who  brought  them  before 
the  court.  These  jurators  seem  to  have  been  able  to 
annul  even  the  affirmations  of  the  vdtnesses ;  their  number 

*  "  Dreptatea  e  cum  o  fac  domnii." 


THE   PEASANT  AND   THE   STATE        149 

varied  (usually  stated  by  the  judge — the  prince  very 
often),  being  generally  twelve,  and  sometimes  as  many 
as  forty-eight,  according  to  the  importance  of  the 
case,  which  then  was  won  or  lost,  according  to  their 
power  of  taking  the  oath  beside  the  defendant,  with 
whom  they  needs  must  be  of  an  equal  station  of  life ; 
except  in  land  contentions,  when  even  peasants  were 
obliged  to  bring  boiars  as  jurators.  If  a  defendant  was 
unable  to  bring  jurators,  or  not  a  sufficient  number  of 
them,  he  lost  his  case.  On  the  contrary,  a  party  always 
lost  his  cause  if  his  opponent  was  able  to  bring  a  double 
number  of  jurators — as  much  as  to  say,  it  seems,  that 
if  there  are  to  be  liars,  they  cannot  be  the  many !  The 
oath  was  taken  ''  on  the  Holy  Gospel  and  the  Holy  Cross 
in  the  Holy  Church  " ;  false  swearing  as  well  as  false 
witnessing  was  punished  with  a  fine  of  six  oxen.  This 
system,  used  in  all  affairs,  civil  and  penal,  was  common 
in  all  the  Carpathian  region,  in  Transylvania  as  well  as 
on  the  outer  slopes  of  the  mountains.  The  jurators,  who, 
on  the  whole,  decided  the  case,  were  often  called  upon 
themselves  to  judge  the  affair,  making  first  a  minute 
inquiry  into  it ;  after  which  they  had  to  swear  for  the  one 
or  the  other  party  at  strife. 

The  peasants  have  besides  a  good  many  moral  rules 
of  conduct,  but  as  they  meet  with  no  practical  sanction 
in  this  world,  they  do  not  seem  to  be  so  generally  binding. 


Medical  assistance  is  another  benefit  the  peasant  is 
entitled  to  from  the  State.  The  sanitary  law  provides 
every  plasa — subdivision  of  a  district — with  a  trained 
university  graduate  in  medicine.  The  institution  is  in- 
adequate enough — even  when  the  physician  is  up  to  the 
mark,  which  is  not  often  the  case — as  infirmaries  and 
dispensaries  are  mostly  wanting ;  besides,  the  area 
ascribed  to  a  physician  is  often  too  large  for  him.  On 
the  other  hand,  apostles  would  be  required  to  fill  such 
places,  and  a  young  man  just  out  of  the  university — let 


150  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

him  be  up  to  or  below  the  mark — is,  as  a  rule,  much  too 
self-conscious  to  forget  himself  and  devote  himself  entirely 
to  the  welfare  of  the  people. 

The  peasant,  on  the  other  hand,  resorts  to  the  help 
of  a  medical  man  only  in  desperate  cases,  and  when  the 
cure  has  not  proved  miraculous,  as  he  expected,  his  faith 
in  a  physician's  powers  will  be  greatly  weakened.  And 
the  physician  will  of  course  prescribe  strengthening  food 
and  good  lodging;  and  how  is  the  poor  peasant  to 
provide  all  that  ?  For  reasons  like  these  the  peasant  will 
still,  to  a  great  extent,  have  recourse  to  incantations 
from  old  women — babas — and  home  cures,  which  latter 
are  often  as  good  as,  if  not  better  than,  many  a  medical 
prescription.  Common  diseases  are  malarial  fever,  not 
fatal,  but  very  weakening ;  diphtheria  in  recurring  epi- 
demics, ravaging  among  small  children,  and  the  pellagra. 
That  dreadful  disease,  produced  by  misery  and  too  hard 
labour,  it  seems,  is  sadly  on  the  increase,  bringing  after  it 
often  insanity,  an  evil  which,  fortunately,  is  otherwise 
very  rare  among  the  peasants. 


VI 

Schooling — elementary  education,  in  the  modern  sense 
of  the  word — is  a  new  institution  with  the  Eoumaniaii 
people.  An  Act  passed  in  1864  endowed  Free  Eoumania 
with  free  and  compulsory  elementary  education — with 
free  also,  though  not  compulsory,  secondary  and  higher 
education. 

In  old  times,  the  first  schools  in  existence  were  schools 
for  the  training  of  the  priests  ;  the  teaching  was  religious 
only,  and  the  language  learned  was  the  old  Slav,  which, 
we  know,  was  dropped  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Some- 
time later,  Greek  was  introduced  into  the  schools,  and 
the  schools  were  multiplied,  as  the  Greeks  wanted  to  pro- 
mote Greek  influences,  a  result  which  was  not  attained, 
not  even  among  the  upper  classes.  With  the  revival  of 
nationalism,  after  1821,  Roumanian  schools  were  founded 
for  the  education  of  the  future  priests,  to  which  any 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        151 

boy  wishing  to  learn  was  admitted.  At  the  same  time 
higher  schools  were  founded  for  the  benefit  of  the  upper 
classes  alone,  where  peasant  boys  were  not  admitted, 
but  where  priests'  sons  were  admitted,  so  that  access  by 
the  peasantry  was  possible,  but  only  as  a  second  stage, 
through  priesthood. 

The  educational  methods  were  of  course  antiquated, 
the  belief  existing  that — 

'*The  rod  is  torn  from  Paradise,"* 
that, 

"  Want  teaches  man,  and  the  rod  the  child  "  f — 

maxims  greatly  contributing  to  make  school  a  terror  for 
children  as  well  as  for  parents,  for,  although  a  parent  is 
apt  to  thrash  his  own  child  cruelly,  he  cannot  bear  to 
have  it  done  by  strangers.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
usefulness  of  children  about  a  peasant's  house  for  all 
sorts  of  small  services  has  contributed  to  make  education 
not  very  much  sought  after.  To-day  the  saying  still 
goes  :  ''I  am  not  going  to  make  a  priest  of  him,"  with 
a  parent  who  does  not  want  his  son  to  learn  much. 

The  new  constitution  of  the  country,  on  a  new  or 
rather  a  renewed  basis,  with  equal  rights  and  equal  duties 
for  all,  opened  a  new  horizon :  everybody  was  com- 
pelled to  send  his  children  to  the  primary  schools. 
This  compulsion  was  a  new  thing ;  the  peasant  looks 
suspiciously  at  innovations  :  "If  it  is  compulsory,"  he  will 
think,  ''it  can  hardly  be  for  our  good;  the  boiars  would 
not  compel  us  for  our  good."  On  the  other  hand,  they 
could  see  no  immediate  benefit  from  learning — quite  the 
reverse :  taking  away  their  children  mornings  and  after- 
noons, when  they  could  be  employed  at  more  useful  work 
at  home,  was  inconvenient.  "  I  cannot  afford  to  send 
my  boy  to  school,"  the  peasant  would  say ;  *'  I  want  him 
at  home." 

But  the  peasant  cannot  help  seeing  that  "  the  gentle- 

*  "Varga  e  rupta  din  rai." 

f  "Nevoia  inva^a  pe  om  §i  nuieaua  pe  copil." 


152  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

man  "  has  had  education  ;  his  Hfe  seems  so  much  easier, 
he  seems  to  be  doing  no  work — playing  with  pen  on  paper 
cannot  be  called  work — consequently  he  will  crave  for  his 
boy  an  equal  advantage,  and,  if  the  boy  has  done  well  in 
a  primary  school,  if  he  is  smart  and  clever,  he  will  go  on 
up  to  the  other  stages  of  education,  all  free  too,  provided, 
moreover,  with  bursaries  for  poor  industrious  boys,  so 
that  a  father  has  hardly  any  expense  until  his  son  comes 
out  of  the  university  a  downright  gentleman,  with  some 
good  situation  in  the  administration,  magistrature  or 
education — anything.  And  the  father  is  happy  to  have 
his  son  a  gentleman,  doing  no  more  work  (that  is,  accord- 
ing to  his  notions). 

But  sometimes  that  new-made  gentleman  will  care  for 
his  father  no  more  ;  he  will  be  ashamed  of  his  family  and 
break  off  with  it,  in  order  never  to  be  reminded  of  his 
humble  origin.  "Well,  this  is  the  other  side  of  the  medal, 
and  knowledge  of  such  cases  will  make  a  peasant  say : 
*'  No,  I  am  not  going  to  let  my  boy  go  to  school  that  he 
may  get  ashamed  of  me,  like  so  and  so's  son."  But  here 
we  may  just  as  well  add  that  cases  of  the  kind  are  more 
and  more  rare  ;  peasants'  sons  do  become  gentlemen,  and 
clever  ones  sometimes,  even  distinguished  in  nianners 
and  learning,  and  are  not  in  the  least  ashamed  of  their 
low  origin.  Social  prejudice  has  no  enduring  roots 
among  Roumanians ;  to  be  ashamed  of  a  peasant  father 
is  quite  out  of  date  now,  out  of  the  fashion ;  a  man  may 
become  whatever  he  can — his  origin  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  And  if  the  promoted  sons  of  peasants  are  not 
despised,  the  degenerate  sons  of  nobles  are  not  more 
esteemed  either — 

"What  if  thy  father  has  been  a  prince 
If  thou  art  not  a  man  ?  "  * 

Education — an  ideal  education — could  be  the  fittest 
sieve  to  pass  a  population  through,  regulating  by  its 
results  the  stages  of  the  social  ladder,  so  as  to  give  the 

'^  "  Ce  folos  ca  tatu-tau  a  fost  domn 
Daca  tu  nu  e§ti  oml " 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        153 

lead  of  the  country  into  really  fit  hands,  but,  as  things 
stand  now,  there  are  many  drawbacks.  If  the  peasant 
properly  realises  the  difference  between  teaching  and 
education  more  than  the  gentleman,  it  were  hard  to  say, 
but  he  has  a  proverb  of  his  own,  seeming  to  imply  it : — 

"For  a  bagful  of  learning 
A  cartful  of  wisdom  is  needed."  * 

But,  again,  a  peasant  who  has  had  his  son  at  the 
primary  school  wants  to  push  him  on,  although  the  boy 
may  not  be  fit  for  it ;  he  will  send  him  to  compete  for 
bursaries,  and  when  not  successful  he  will  readily  believe 
that  he  has  been  wronged  by  the  ''gentleman."  Or  he 
may  be  fatally  wronged  without  any  interference  from 
the  "  gentleman,"  as  places  of  admission  are  naturally 
limited,  and  only  the  very  best  can  get  in  straightfor- 
wardly, without  protection,  if  even !  The  impression 
produced  at  home  will  be  that  it  is  useless  to  learn,  as 
you  cannot  get  on  because  of  the  "gentlemen,"  and 
if  you  are  not  to  get  on — to  salaried  situations — why 
learn  anything?  and  the  peasant  is  not  alone  to  think 
so.  He  himself,  the  peasant  will  say,  and  his  father 
and  his  grandfather,  had  no  schooling  whatever, 
and  yet  went  on  well  enough  without  it !  The  diffi- 
culty seems  to  be  to  make  the  peasant  understand  that 
learning  in  itself  has  a  value,  though  not  tending  to  any 
important  change  in  the  material  conditions  of  life ;  but 
all  classes  find  that  difficult  to  understand,  and  why 
should  a  village  teacher  be  expected  to  explain  that 
which  teachers  of  all  degrees  fail  to  make  plain  and  clear 
in  towns? 

But  clearness  will  come  by  itself  after  all.  The  peasant 
must  learn  that  if  he  can  read  he  cannot  be  cheated  by 
his  employer  when  the  former  draws  up  his  bill  for 
labour  due  or  done;  that  if  he  knows  some  arithmetic 
and  measurements,  he  cannot  be  cheated  when  land  is 
measured  out  for  him ;  he  finds  out  by  and  by  that  the 


*  "La  un  sac  de  inva^atura 
Trebue  un  car  de  minte.' 


154  FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

boy  who  has  been  at  school  has  a  better  time  in  the  army, 
when  his  service  time  has  come,  as  he  understands  things 
quicker,  is  cleverer,  and  is  consequently  better  treated. 
All  this  works  better  in  the  long  run  than  any  persuasive 
words,  and  although  the  percentage  of  illiterates  is  still 
wonderfully  large  after  these  forty  years  of  free  com- 
pulsory education,  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  people 
get  more  and  more  interested  in  it,  and  rural  schools  and 
school  attendance  are  improving  from  year  to  year. 

In  Transylvania,  in  old  times,  teaching  was  connected 
with  the  Church,  just  as  it  was  in  the  free  principalities 
of  old.  The  first  powerful  impulse  to  Roumanian  teach- 
ing was  given  by  the  union  with  the  Roman  Catholics  in 
1700,  when  schools  were  founded  for  the  preparation 
of  a  better  trained  clergy.  The  non-united  clergy  lagged 
rather  behind.  By  a  decree  of  Joseph  II.  some  twenty- 
five  schools  were  founded  ;  then,  higher  schools,  training 
schools,  were  gradually  founded,  and  learning  was  so 
flourishing,  that  by  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  Roumanian  teachers  crossed  the  Carpathians 
and  went  into  Valachia  to  lay  the  foundation  of  higher 
teaching  there,  too,  bringing  thus  educational  organisation 
as  the  voyevode  founders  of  old  had  brought  political 
organisation.  There  are  now  some  3,000  primary  schools 
in  Transylvania,  and  many  secondary  ones,  towards  the 
support  of  which  the  Free  Kingdom  of  Roumania  con- 
tributes a  yearly  grant  of  some  39,000  francs. 

In  Bukovina  the  Roumanians  seem  to  be  also  fairly 
provided  with  schools. 

In  Moravia  and  Istria  the  disappearing  Roumanians 
are  taught  Slav  dialects,  if  anything. 

In  Bassarabia  school  attendance  in  Russian  schools  is 
compulsory,  and  nobody  would  dare  to  open  a  Roumanian 
school. 

About  the  Pindus,  under  Turkish  dominion,  the  first 
Roumanian  school  was  opened  only  in  1864,  in  Monastir, 
the  chief  town  of  Macedonia.  Soon  afterwards  the  question 
of  Roumanian  ideas  in  Macedonia  was  taken  in  hand  by 
the  Government  of  Free  Roumania,  which  to-day,  with 
all  her  wants  and  her  own  financial  difficulties,  contributes 


THE  PEASANT  AND  THE  STATE        155 

no  less  a  sum  than  300,000  francs  yearly  towards  the 
support  of  Roumanian  schools  for  the  benefit  of  that 
far-away  branch  of  the  Roumanian  nation.  There  is 
a  large  number  of  primary  schools,  two  secondary,  and 
three  commercial  ones.  That  the  results  are  far  below 
expectation  is  no  wonder,  in  such  out-of-the-way  places, 
so  very  far  beyond  reach  of  any  adequate  or  thorough 
supervision  and  control,  having,  moreover,  always  to 
struggle  against  Greek  and  Bulgarian  oppression  and 
local  intrigues. 

Elementary  teaching  is  much  simplified  by  the  fact 
that  spelling  is  phonetic  on  the  whole,  that  the  peasant 
speaks  grammatically  quite  naturally,  and  that  in  dialect 
differences  are  slight  enough  to  permit  the  Roumanian 
language  to  be  considered  as  one  in  the  whole  Carpathian 
region.  The  dialect  of  the  Pindus  Roumanians  is  rather 
different,  so  that  it  has  really  to  be  learned  by  a  Rou- 
manian from  north  of  the  Danube.  For  the  region 
north  of  the  Danube,  the  differences  in  the  dialect  are, 
roughly  speaking,  made  up  of  a  number  of  words  strange 
to  each  other,  but  mostly  by  reason  of  the  varying  pro- 
nunciations of  the  consonants  p,  b,  v,  d,  which  they  will 
speak  out  as  ch  or  k,  gh,  or  ge^  or  dge,  &c.,  and  the  vowel 
e,  pronounced  as  a  or  as  ^ ;  variations  which  also  consti- 
tute the  only  difference  between  the  literary  language 
and  the  popular  language. 


CHAPTEE  IV 

THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  EELIGION 

HIS  BELIEFS  AND   SUPEESTITIONS 


Christianity  in  Dacia  is  very  old,  and  tradition 
attributes  its  introduction  to  the  preaching  of  the  Apostle 
Andrew,  brother  of  Peter.  Probably,  among  the  Koman 
emigrants  who  began  to  flock  into  Dacia  even  before 
Trajan's  colonisation,  there  must  have  been  a  good 
number  of  Christians,  and  no  doubt  among  Trajan's 
colonists  there  must  have  been  Christians  too.  That 
Christianity  is  at  least  as  old  in  the  Carpathian  region 
as  the  Koman  rule  is  proved  by  the  number  of  funda- 
mental words  in  religion,  which  are  all  of  Latin  origin  : 
Dumnezeu  ("  God,"  from  Dominus-Deus) y  Cruce  ("cross," 
from  crux)y  sdnt  (**  saint,"  from  sanctus),  Santa- Scrip  turd 
("Holy  Scripture,"  from  sanctus  and  scriho),  cre§tin 
("  Christian,"  from  the  popular  Latin  Chrestianus) ;  even 
the  irreverent  expression  popaventer  has  been  faithfully 
preserved  in  the  very  popular  saying  of  pd^itece  de  popa, 
for  one  who  eats  much.  Christianity  in  Dacia  persisted 
after  the  desertion  of  that  province ;  at  the  time  of 
Constantine  the  Great,  Christian  bishops  are  mentioned 
in  those  regions.  If  administratively  any  connection  of 
the  empire  with  the  regions  north  of  the  Danube  was 
cut  off,  it  was  not  so  with  the  religious  connections; 
these  all  the  time  bound  Dacia  to  Moesia  and  Thessalonica, 
on  whose  higher  bishops  the  Dacian  Church  depended — 
Justinian,  in  the  sixth  century,  founded  in  Moesia  the 
Archbishopric  of  Justinianea  Prima,  with  the  set  purpose 

166 


A  Monk. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      157 

that  it  should  rule  over  the  Church  on  both  banks  of  the 
Danube.  The  Dacian  Church  then  came  under  the 
Bishopric  of  Kome,  and  again  under  that  of  Con- 
stantinople (eighth  century),  but  it  is  very  likely  that 
the  supremacy  of  both  was  rather  nominal  during  the 
invasions,  or  at  least  during  the  severest  of  them.  At 
the  time  of  the  Bulgarian  invasion  the  right  and  left 
banks  of  the  Danube  were  conquered ;  the  Bulgarians 
founded  a  powerful  though  transient  empire  from  the 
Balkans  to  the  Carpathians — which  we  know  to  have 
lasted  until  1018.  By  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  the 
Bulgarians  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  in  their 
fresh  proselytising  enthusiasm  they  set  off  converting 
to  their  new  faith  all  the  people  round  about  them; 
missionaries  swarmed  everywhere,  in  Poland,  Kussia, 
Hungary,  to  preach  the  Slav  form  of  Christianity,  and 
among  them,  one  is  mentioned  in  a  document  of  the 
time  as  having  been  busy  preaching  in  the  "  Alps  of 
the  Valachians  "  {hi  Alpibus  Valachicis).  The  Valachs, 
however,  were  Christians  already,  and  what  the  Slav 
missionary  had  to  preach  to  them  was  not  Christianity 
in  itself,  but  the  Slav  form  of  worship.  It  seems  that 
the  Valachians  did  not  readily  accept  it,  and  an  old 
tradition,  handed  down  from  two  quite  independent 
sources,  tells  us  that  the  books  of  Valachian  worship 
were  burnt,  which  shows  that  the  Bulgarians  compelled 
the  Valachians  by  violence  to  accept  their  form  of 
worship,  in  their  language,  by  substituting  Slav  books 
for  Latin  ones.  At  last,  of  course,  the  Eoumanians  gave 
in ;  they  did  not  understand  Bulgarian,  but  by  this  time 
they  would  not  have  understood  very  much  Church  Latin 
either  ;  so  they  went  quietly  to  church  to  listen  to  the  Slav 
service,  just  as  the  Koman  CathoHcs  listen  nowadays  to 
a  Latin  service.  The  mighty  Czar  Simeon  estabhshed  a 
Mitropolit  (Archbishop),  who  soon  became  an  independent 
Patriarch,  in  his  capital  Preslav,  transferred  later  on  to 
Ochrida.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  Bulgarian  Empire, 
the  Byzantine  Emperor  Basil  II.,  the  '*  Bulgar- Slayer," 
preserved  the  patriarchate  of  Ochrida,  with  a  supremacy 
over  all  the  Bulgarians  and  Valachs.      Although    the 


158         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

peoples  north  of  the  Danube  were  not  subdued  by  the 
Greek  Emperor,  they  remained  still  faithful  to  the  Church 
of  Ochrida.  The  Roumanians  were  now  quite  used  to 
hearing  Bulgarian  in  their  churches,  although  they  under- 
stood nothing  of  it ;  national  feeling  was  very  dim  in 
those  times,  quite  in  the  background  of  their  conscience. 
As  to  introducing  the  vulgar  national  tongue  into  church, 
there  was  no  idea  of  such  a  thing  at  that  time,  when 
only  four  languages  were  deemed  worthy  to  be  addressed 
to  God  (Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Slav).  Besides,  a  hook 
was  not  a  common  thing  then;  it  was  rather  an  object 
of  superstition,  containing  sanctity  and  superior  power 
in  the  very  leaves  and  type  ;  a  change  in  the  Church  books 
might  have  been  looked  upon  as  a  sacrilege. 

With  the  formation  of  the  Valacho-Bulgarian  Empire 
(twelfth  century)  the  ties  uniting  the  Christians  on  both 
banks  of  the  Danube  became  stronger,  and  intercourse 
more  frequent,  and  these  relations  remained  the  same 
at  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  two  Roumanian 
principalities,  Valachia  (1290)  and  Moldavia  (1349). 
The  Hungarians  had  long  since  conquered  Transylvania 
(end  of  eleventh  century),  and  from  the  tenth  century 
they  were  Christians,  that  is,  recognising  the  supremacy 
of  Rome.  In  the  eleventh  century,  when  rivalry  between 
Rome  and  Constantinople  became  so  strong  that  it  led 
to  the  final  split  (1054) ,  the  Hungarians  held  with  Rome, 
and  began  to  persecute  the  Roumanians,  in  order  to 
bring  them  round  to  Roman  Catholicism.  This  is  the 
chief  cause  that  led  to  the  large  emigration  from  Tran- 
sylvania and  the  foundation,  subsequently,  of  the  two 
principalities.  Whilst  the  rivalry  between  the  Roman 
Cathohc  and  Greek-Orthodox  creeds  was  thus  working 
its  mischief  in  Transylvania,  bringing  more  and  more 
oppression  on  the  heads  of  the  Greek-Orthodox,  a  second 
rivalry,  of  a  milder  sort,  worke^  its  way  into  the  young 
free  principalities ;  namely,  the  Church  of  Ochrida  and 
that  of  Constantinople :  each  was  trying  to  draw  the 
Roumanian  Churches  to  itself.  Ochrida  had  the  right 
of  first  occupant,  and  the  Roumanians  held  fast  to  her. 
However,  the  Greeks,  ever  clever  at  arguing,  succeeded 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      159 

in  coaxing  one  or  other  of  the  Eoumanian  princes,  and 
these  recognised  the  one  or  the  other  Patriarch  at  will, 
and  it  appears  that  the  Patriarchs  also  made  up  their 
minds  to  draw  as  much  advantage  from  this  as  possible. 
A  typical  instance  we  find  in  a  document  from  the  time 
of  Mirtchea  the  Great,  Voyevode  of  Valachia  (1386-1418). 
This  prince  had  just  accomplished  a  new  marriage  with 
a  lady  related  to  him  in  a  degree  that  could  not,  it  seems, 
let  his  conscience  be  entirely  at  rest ;  thus,  although  the 
marriage  was  duly  recognised  by  the  Patriarch  of  Ochrida, 
Mirtchea  begged  for  a  supererogatory  blessing  from  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  also.  This  holy  man  wrote, 
that  no  doubt  the  relationship  was  rather  near,  but,  "  in  as 
far  as  your  Archipastor  of  Ochrida  has  admitted  it,  I  will 
neither  approve  nor  disapprove  of  it,  only,  I  advise  thee  to 
be  generous  to  the  Church  for  the  remission  of  thy  sins !  " 
This  need  of  being  generous  to  two  leading  Churches — when 
other  sore  needs  were  trying  the  country  and  the  people 
— perhaps  induced  the  Valachian  prince  to  keep  to  one 
Church,  and  therefore  he  chose  Constantinople,  to  which 
he  brought  round  the  Moldavian  Church  also,  by  his 
friendly  influence  on  Alexander  the  Good.  From  this 
time  there  were  Archbishops  {Mitropolifi)  in  Valachia 
and  Moldavia,  independent  of  each  other,  but  dependent 
on  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  To  the  Mitropolit 
of  Valachia  was  also  given  the  charge  of  the  persecuted 
Greek-Orthodox  souls  of  Transylvania  and  Hungary,  and 
he  received  the  title  of  "  humble  Mitropoht  of  Ungro- 
Vlachia,  Exarch  of  the  whole  Ungro-Vlachy  and  the  hills  " 
('O  Tairuvog  MrjTpoTroXirrjg  Ovypo(5Xaxiag  kqI  "E^apxog  iramq 
Ovy pofdXa^iag  Koi  HXayr^vwv). 

The  union  with  Constantinople  did  not  bring  in  a  quite 
untroubled  life,  as  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople 
tried  more  than  once  to  exercise  a  strong  political 
influence  on  the  countri^ ;  more  than  once  also,  they 
tried  to  nominate  Greek  Archbishops  to  the  Eoumanian 
sees,  and  aroused  thereby  quarrels  and  troubles.  But 
after  a  while  they  were  successful  in  that  too,  and 
triumphed  over  the  obstinate  resolve  of  the  Roumanian 
people  not  to  accept  a  Greek  Mitropolit. 


160        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

The  Turkish  invasion  in  the  Balkan  peninsula  drove 
over  the  Danube  crowds  of  priests  and  monks  of  Slav 
blood  and  tongue,  and  by  them  the  Slav  influence  on  the 
Roumanian  Churches  was  increased,  and  repeatedly  fed 
by  new  influences.  The  Slav  language  was  maintained 
quite  naturally  in  Church,  as  it  was  also  used  in  State 
affairs,  although  the  people  never  understood  a  word  of 
it.  Most  of  these  monks  were  glad  to  meet  with  a 
hospitable  and  safe  refuge  in  charmingly  situated  glens 
hidden  among  the  lofty  Carpathians.  Many  monasteries 
were  thus  founded  both  in  Valachia  and  Moldavia.  In 
Valachia,  the  oldest  are  Tismana  and  Voditza,  dating 
from  the  fourteenth  century ;  in  Moldavia,  the  monastery 
of  Pobrata,  Neamtz  and  then  Putna  (in  Bukovina) .  At 
the  same  time,  voyevodes,  in  their  eagerness  to  be 
generous  to  the  supreme  Church,  were  endowing  and 
building  monasteries  at  Mount  Athos,  e.g.,  Stephen  the 
Great,  his  son  Bogdan,  and  later  on  Basile  Lupu,  great 
protector  of  the  Orthodox  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  and 
others.  To  the  credit  of  the  monks — and  the  nuns — it 
must  be  said  that  they  had  a  wonderful  taste  for  scenery ; 
all  the  monasteries  are  situated  in  the  most  picturesque 
spots  of  the  country.  With  their  origins  wrapt  in  a  veil 
of  legends,  like  all  monasteries,  they  became  not  exactly 
seats  of  learning,  but  at  any  rate  centres  of  religious 
culture,  whence  priests,  bishops,  and  archbishops  were 
drawn  for  the  service  of  the  Church.  They  were  also  the 
focuses  of  the  Slav  language,  whence  it  came  to  be  taught 
in  the  schools  that  existed  in  towns  and  occasionally  in 
country  places.  But  somehow,  with  all  the  teaching  of 
it,  Bulgarian  never  became  a  familiar  language  to  the 
Roumanians. 

In  these  monasteries  there  have  now  and  then  existed 
monks  addicted  to  the  things  of  the  mind,  busying  them- 
selves with  the  writing,  or  rather  with  the  copying,  of 
holy  books,  as,  for  instance,  the  Four  Gospels,  Tetra- 
vanghel,  written  for  the  wife  of  Alexander  the  Good,  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  but  which  somehow  managed  to 
reach  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford. 

Another  cause  also  contributing  to  the  strengthening 


To  face  page  iCi. 


The  Cathedral  "Curtea  de  Argeo." 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      161 

of  the  Slav  influence  was  the  fear  of  popery,  a  fear 
shared  alike  by  all  Greek-Orthodox  countries.  The  Pope 
has  ever  been  casting  his  fisher's  net  in  all  directions, 
and,  with  never-tiring  perseverance,  using  all  means  to 
arrive  at  his  ends.  The  fear  of  being  taken  in  that  net 
made  the  Roumanians  even  more  faithful  to  their  Church 
usages,  consequently  to  its  language,  in  which  there  was 
already  a  large  store  of  religious  literature  translated  from 
the  Greek.  The  mere  idea  of  these  translations  being 
made  into  vulgar  Roumanian,  would  have  been  looked 
upon  as  a  heresy ;  even  later  on,  when  the  first  Bible  was 
translated  into  Roumanian,  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
it  was  not  done  without  the  preliminary  blessing  of  an 
Orthodox  Patriarch. 

In  proportion  as  the  Christians  south  of  the  Danube 
got  used  to  the  Turks,  and  found  that  they  could  live 
side  by  side  with  them,  the  emigration  towards  the 
Roumanian  countries  decreased,  and  the  culture  of  the 
Slav  language  slackened.  From  the  fifteenth  century 
attempts  at  a  religious  literature  in  Roumanian  were 
made,  the  oldest  manuscript  yet  discovered  being  the 
so-called  "  Code  of  Voronetz,"  in  Bukovine. 

Whilst  the  Slav  influence  was  losing  ground,  a  fresh 
wave  of  Greek  influence  made  its  way  into  the  Roumanian 
principalities  during  the  sixteenth  century.  A  prince  of 
Valachia,  Neagoe  Bassarab,  the  founder  of  the  finest 
church  in  Roumania,  the  Curtea  de  Argesh,  was  a  very 
pious  man,  and  in  order  to  bring  upon  the  Valachian 
monasteries  the  brightest  nimbus  of  holiness,  he  put  them 
under  the  supremacy  of  the  Greek  churches  in  the  Holy 
Mountain,  Athos;  he  dedicated  them  to  those  monasteries. 
The  Roumanian  monasteries  were  extremely  rich,  over 
and  over  again  largely  endowed  with  money  and  lands 
by  princes  and  by  private  individuals — the  boiars  have 
always  been  liberal  towards  the  Church,  for  "  the 
remission  of  their  sins."  The  Greek  monks  took  in 
hand  the  administration  of  those  riches,  drew  the 
revenues  up  to  Athos,  and  on  the  other  hand  began 
to  flock  into  the  Roumanian  monasteries,  which  were 
soon,   in  both  principalities,  overflowing  with  them,  as 

12 


162         FROM   CARPATHIAN   TO   PINDUS 

the  example  of  Neagoe  Bassarab  was  followed,  if  not 
surpassed,  in  Moldavia  also.  And  these  Greek  monks 
took  the  top  of  the  table  in  the  Roumanian  monasteries, 
and  drove  to  the  foot  the  poor  Roumanian  monks,  much 
more  ignorant  than  they.  And  the  people  had  an 
extremely  high  opinion  of  the  holiness  of  the  Greek 
monks,  sure  to  be  much  holier  than  their  own  home- 
made monks,  coming  from  such  holy  places  as  Athos 
was  reputed  to  be ;  and  thus  a  Greek  influence  took  root 
in  the  Church,  to  spread  out  and  bear  fruits  by  and  by. 

But  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  another 
current  of  Slav  influence  came,  especially  over  Moldavia, 
and  this  time  from  the  north,  from  Galicia  and  Poland, 
under  pressure  of  Jesuit  persecution,  supported  on  political 
grounds  by  the  Polish  Government.  This  last  current, 
however,  was  only  a  transient  one ;  it  soon  died  out,  and 
after  it  the  Slav  language  in  Church  and  State  in  the 
Roumanian  principalities  broke  down,  to  die  its  more 
natural  death.  About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  Metropolitan  of  both  countries,  deploring 
the  want  of  knowledge  of  the  Slav  language  by  the 
priests,  had  nothing  better  to  suggest  for  the  maintenance 
of  Church  worship,  which  was  felt  to  be  dying  out,  too, 
than  the  introduction  of  the  Roumanian  language  into 
the  Church  service,  which  course  was  adopted  by  common 
agreement  between  the  voyevodes  of  both  countries, 
Basile  Lupu  and  Mathet  Bassarab.  We  may  note  in 
this  connection  that  Greek  had  begun  to  be  used  already 
in  some  great  and  wealthy  churches. 

The  Roumanians  of  Transylvania  did  away  at  the 
same  time,  or  even  sooner,  with  the  Slav  language  in 
their  own  Church,  under  pressure  of  the  Reformation. 
The  Protestants,  having  printed  books  containing  their 
teaching  in  Roumanian,  the  Greek  Orthodox  clergy,  in 
order  to  guard  their  own  flock  against  the  contagion  of 
the  new  doctrine,  very  judiciously  decided  upon  the 
translation  into  Roumanian  of  the  Slav  religious  books, 
and  the  use  of  the  Roumanian  language  in  church  as  the 
safest  of  preventives. 

The  Slav  language  was  dead  and  buried  henceforth  for 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      163 

all  Roumanians ;  it  had  never  been  more  than  a  dead 
language  with  them,  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  renewed 
fostering  of  Slav  influence,  could  not  be  kept  alive  by 
any  means.  In  fact,  it  was  dead  long  before  the  time 
of  its  entombment.  For  a  long  while  already  the  heads 
of  the  Church  had  noticed  how  scanty  was  the  knowledge 
of  that  language  in  the  average  priest ;  many  an  anecdote 
exists  to  this  day  to  attest  the  ignorance  of  those  priests 
who,  unable  to  say  Mass  in  Slav,  used  to  falter  meaning- 
less words,  on  which  the  people  have  made  up  parodies 
of  the  funniest  kind,  and  of  which  children  have  composed 
formulas  used  in  their  games  to  the  present  day.  Other 
anecdotes  again  tell  us  of  priests  and  their  sacristans, 
who,  at  their  wits'  end  as  to  what  to  say  in  their  pretence 
of  Mass,  were  simply  talking  of  their  own  private  affairs, 
not  of  a  particularly  moral  kind  either,  interlarding  just 
here  and  there  some  meaningless  Slav  syllables.  Other 
priests,  again,  less  resourceful,  who  perhaps  could  not 
even  read,  let  alone  understand,  took  up  the  Bible  and, 
we  are  told,  addressing  the  congregation  :  **  Good  people, 
do  you  know  what  is  said  in  this  book  ?  "  If  the  people 
said  no,  the  answer  was,  **  Then  I  don't  see  the  use 
of  my  telling  it  to  you."  If  they  said  yes,  then  he 
answered,  *'  If  you  know,  you  don't  require  to  be  told 
again."  At  last  the  disgusted  congregation  would  decide 
to  catch  him  by  the  following  trick :  when  he  came  with 
his  question  half  of  the  congregation  would  answer  no, 
the  other  half  yes.  And  so  they  did,  but  the  cunning 
priest  was  still  too  clever  for  them,  and  his  ready  answer 
was,  '*  Those  who  know  will  tell  those  who  do  not  know, 
for  thus  is  it  written  in  the  book."  Other  priests,  with 
more  religious  feeHng  in  them,  and  perhaps  more  sense 
of  duty,  composed  prayers  of  their  own,  with  Slav 
syllables  or  words  mixed  up  disconnectedly,  unmeaningly, 
very  much  like  the  incantations  of  old  women,  which 
prayers  were  made  use  of  at  special  occasions  of  illness 
or  trouble.  The  peasant  used  the  priest's  reading  and 
Church  ceremonies  very  much  as  he  used  old  women 
incantations.  For  his  own  private  worship  he  had  his 
own  simple  prayers,  handed  down  from  father  to  son 


164         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

ever  since  their  first  conversion  to  Christianity  in  Roman 
Dacia.  Most  of  the  prayers  are  still  in  constant  use 
among  peasants,  as  the  simple,  "  Cross  in  the  house, 
cross  in  the  table,  cross  in  the  four  corners  of  the  house,'* 
&c. ;  or  "  Good  cross,  lull  me  to  sleep ;  holy  Angel, 
guard  me,  from  heavy  sleep  awake  me,  from  evil  spirit 
preserve  me,"  and  many  other  prayers. 

From  the  seventeenth  century  the  Roumanian  Church 
has  taken  to  the  Roumanian  language,  and  it  has  ever 
since  been  used  in  poor  village  churches,  but  in  the  rich 
churches  of  the  towns  and  in  the  wealthy  monasteries  it 
was  soon  supplanted  and  kept  away  for  more  than  a 
century  by  the  Greek  language,  which  was  driven  out 
only  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Rou- 
mania  only  got  rid  of  the  Greek  monks  themselves  in 
1862,  at  the  hands  of  the  same  prince  who  endowed  the 
peasants  with  land. 

Prince  Cuza  and  the  young  national  party,  seeing  that 
the  clergy  were  in  possession  of  one-fourth  of  the  Rou- 
manian ground,  which  ground  had  been  given  to  the 
monasteries  with  conditions  of  a  charitable  character 
by  the  pious  donors,  although  these  conditions  had 
remained  a  dead  letter,  whilst  the  wealth  served  only  to 
maintain  luxury  and  no  holy  living,  or  was  drawn  away 
for  Greek  purposes,  decided  that  the  holy  Greek  fathers 
—of  whom,  strange  to  say,  a  good  many  were  perfectly 
Roumanised — should  return  to  their  holy  homes  at  Athos 
and  Jerusalem,  and  that  the  State  should  execute  the  wills 
of  the  donors. 

But  the  execution  of  this  decision  was  extremely 
difficult,  because  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  protested 
strongly  against  it,  and  the  Tzar  of  Russia  himself  was 
coaxed  into  supporting  the  Greeks.  So  there  was  danger 
on  the  horizon.  But  Cuza  took  upon  himself  to  produce 
a  plan  of  secularisation  on  his  own  account,  putting  in 
peril  his  throne,  but  keeping  the  country  aloof  from 
responsibility.  Long  afterwards,  a  prominent  statesman 
reported  the  words  the  prince  then  used :  **  When  you 
elected  me  prince,  I  had  only  eight  ducats  in  my  pocket, 
the  estate  I  had  from  my  father  was  mortgaged,  my  shop 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      165 

buildings  in  Galatzi  were  sold.  Now  my  estate  is  freed 
I  have,  moreover,  bought  the  new  one  of  Ruginoasa,  I 
can  afford  to  lose  my  throne  if  need  be,  but  the  country 
must  run  no  risk."  But  he  did  not  lose  the  throne  ;  the 
monastery  lands  were  secularised  and  replaced  by  a 
small  allowance  in  the  Budget,  and  ever  since,  the 
number  of  those  who  desired  to  devote  their  lives  to  God 
became  wonderfully  diminished  ;  *  the  monastery  estates 
became  State  land. 

By  the  constitution  of  1866  the  Roumanian  Church 
was  declared  independent — autocefald — holding  still,  from 
the  dogmatic  point  of  view,  to  the  Church  of  Con- 
stantinople. 

In  the  meanwhile  Roman  Catholic  persecutions  had 
become  stronger  than  ever  in  Hungary,  and  Transylvania 
had  fallen  under  Austrian  rule.  The  Roumanian  clergy 
did  not  see  any  other  way  to  alleviate  the  hard  fate  of 
the  people  than  by  accepting  a  compromise  of  union 
with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  They  agreed  to 
recognise  papal  supremacy,  to  take  the  Eucharist  accord- 
ing to  Roman  Catholic  ritual,  to  believe  in  the  existence 
of  Purgatory,  and  to  admit  the  doctrine  of  the  Filioque, 
which  had  been  the  starting-point  of  the  split  of  1054. 
Thus,  since  1700,  the  Roumanians  of  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Empire  were,  from  the  religious  point  of  view,  divided 
into  two  parts — Greek  Orthodox  and  Roman  Orthodox 
— these  last  are  called  uniti  or  uniaiti  (united). 

South  of  the  Danube,  about  the  Pindus,  the  Armini, 
under  Greek  and  under  Turkish  rule,  were  easily  drawn 
into  the  Greek  Church,  and  this  was  the  strongest  means 
by  which  the  Greeks  worked,  and  are  still  working,  to 
push  on  their  work  of  total  Grecisation  of  the  Armtni. 
A  small  group  of  the  Macedonian  Valachs  have  adopted 

*  There  are  very  few  Roumanian  monks,  rambling  in  small 
numbers  about  the  old  monasteries.  The  nunneries  are  better 
populated  with  women  who  have  hardly  anything  religious  about 
them  except  the  dress,  and  who  make  a  livehhood  by  their  handi- 
work, especially  in  woollen  fabrics,  and  an  extra  income  by  lodging  or 
boarding  townspeople  in  summer,  when  the  monasteries  are  turned 
into  health  resorts. 


166         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  Mussulman  religion  ;  these  are  the  Valachs  from  the 
Meglen. 

II 

"Omul  trebui  sa  cinsteasca 
Legea  lui  cea  parinteasca." 

("A  man  must  honour  the  law 
(religion)  of  his  fathers.") 

Religion  is  law  to  the  Roumanian  peasant,  and  his 
strongest  feeling  about  it  is  that  he  ought  to  keep  it  by 
all  means — 

"  He  who  his  own  law  honours  not 
Is  called  a  lawless  man."* 

To  keep  to  the  faith  of  his  forefathers  is  the  first  and 
foremost  duty  he  feels  bound  to  fulfil  towards  rehgion, 
because 

"He  who  jumps  into  another  law 
Has  no  God  at  all."f 

But  what  this  faith  really  is  I  am  afraid  the  Roumanian 
peasant  would  be  very  much  at  a  loss  to  explain.  At  the 
best  he  knows  only  the  outward  manifestations  of  his 
creed  :  how  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  which  'fasting- 
days  to  keep,  and  how ;  what  the  Church  garments  of  the 
priest  are  like,  and  what  is  the  general  aspect  of  the 
house  of  God;  as  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  he  is 
not  in  the  least  a  theologian.  And  how  could  the 
peasantry  get  a  doctrinal  knowledge  of  religion  ?  The 
Roumanian  clergy,  whether  the  regular  (monastic)  clergy 
— who  have  ever  had  but  little  to  do  with  the  people — 
or  the  lay  clergy,  who  are  directly  entrusted  with  the 
care  of  souls,  have  always  been  utterly  ignorant,  and 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  teach  what  they  only  dimly 
— if  at  all — understood  themselves ;  on  the  other  hand, 

*  *'  Cine  legea  nu-§i  cinste^te 
Fara  lege  se  nume^te." 

f  "  Cine  'ntr'  alta  lege  sare 
Nici  un  Dumnezeu  nu  are." 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      167 

it  has  never  been  the  custom  for  priest  and  people  to 
meet  on  spiritual  ground  anywhere  else  than  at  church. 
And  at  church  the  programme  of  worship  has  always  been 
crystalised  in  the  Mass  liturghia ;  no  sermon,  no  special 
teaching.  No  wonder,  then,  that  the  peasant  should  look 
upon  Church  service  as  upon  some  magic  rites,  the  super- 
natural power  of  which  resides  in  the  very  robes  or 
movements  of  the  priest  and  in  the  mostly  indistinct 
words  he  utters  in  his  nasal,  chanting  tone.  Even  now 
religious  teaching,  the  elements  of  it  at  least,  is  imparted 
at  school,  but  then  the  largest  number  of  the  present 
adult  peasantry  have  never  attended  school ;  whence,  then, 
has  he  received  his  religious  teaching?  All  the  Rou- 
manian peasant  know  about  religion,  be  it  doctrinal  or 
historical,  he  knows  only  by  oral  tradition,  by  the  tales 
and  explanations  and  beliefs  handed  down  from  father 
to  son  ;  all  the  Roumanian  peasant  feels  and  thinks  as  to 
moral  principles  he  has  got  by  tradition,  too,  from 
ancestral  advice  and  teaching,  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  religion  of  the  Roumanian 
peasant,  his  beliefs,  his  ethics,  his  philosophy,  are  of  his 
own  making,  it  seems,  much  more  than  the  result  of  the 
priest's  teaching.  G-enerally,  the  Roumanian  priest  has 
never  enjoyed  much  respect  from  his  flock  except  very 
occasionally,  when  he  personally  has  deserved  it.  It  is 
true  the  peasant  thinks  much  of  the  consecration  of  the 
priest ;  the  sacrament  of  priesthood  really  imparts  to  the 
priest  a  special  power,  the  gift  Darul,  which  enables  him 
to  celebrate  the  rites,  and  at  the  same  time  gives  him  a 
special  character  in  the  peasant's  eye ;  but  if  the  peasant 
kisses  the  hand  of  the  priest  he  has  met  by  chance,  he 
will  none  the  less  throw  after  him  a  straw  blade,  a  stick, 
a  bit  of  thread,  or  any  small  thing  at  hand,  with  the 
imprecation  "  PtiUy  piei  drace ! "  ('*  Fie,  perish  devil!  ")  to 
ward  off  any  mishap  that  might  befall  him  through  the 
mere  meeting  with  the  priest. 

Socially,  when  class  distinctions  still  existed,  the  priest 
was  the  stepping-stone  from  the  peasant  to  the  upper 
ranks.  Peasants  were  admitted  into  priests'  schools  only ; 
priests'  sons  were  alone  admitted  into  the  higher  schools, 


168         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

and  consequently  to  higher  functions  and  higher  social 
rank,  and  yet  priesthood  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  been 
a  very  desirable  state : — 

"  Make  me,  0  Lord,  what  you  please, 
Only  do  not  make  me  a  priest, 
That  I  should  eat  bread 
Grumbled  upon, 
And  cracknels 
From  the  poor  I "  * 

The  little  regard  for  priesthood,  as  nothing  more  than 
a  profession,  and  not  of  much  importance  to  humanity,  is 
also  shov^^n  by  the  superstition  that  when  a  priest  has 
been  ordained  his  wife  must  go  out  to  meet  him,  on  his 
coming  home,  with  spade  and  shovel  in  her  hand,  to  get 
thereby  a  prospect  of  plentiful  burials  for  him.  As  to  the 
morals  of  the  priest — setting  aside  individual  exceptions 
— they  are  at  their  best  when  doubtful,  I  fear,  and  this 
has  brought  the  peasant  to  the  belief  that  if  a  priest  dies 
a  violent  death  he  will  go  to  heaven  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
if  he  dies  a  natural  death,  he  is  sure  to  go  to  hell.  Very 
wisely,  too,  he  will  advise  one — 

"  Do  what  the  priest  teaches  you, 
Do  not  what  he  does  himself."  f 

And  as  to  the  priest's  teaching,  it  is  an  item  hardly  ever 
heard,  because  the  Roumanian  peasant  is  not  much  of  a 
church-goer,  but  is  ready  to  consider  that  duty  rather 
an  old  woman's  business.  And  surely  it  has  been  the 
ignorance  and  the  vices  of  the  priests  that  have  above  all 
kept  the  people  away  from  church.  Things  stand  on  a 
much  better  footing  in  Transylvania,  where  the  clergy 


*  '*  Fa-ma,  Doamne,  cum  i^i  place 
Numai  popa  nu  ma  face 
Sa  mane  pita 
Bombaita 
§i  colaci 
De  la  saraci." 

f  "Fa  ce  te  inva^a  popa 
Nu  face  ce  face  el." 


The  Monastery  of  Varatec. 


face" page  it 


Priests  about  Town. 


[Pltoio,  J.  Cazaban. 


THE   PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      169 

have  been  called  upon  to  play  a  political  and  national  part 
too,  and  where,  in  the  struggle  for  life  against  the  enemy, 
they  have  felt  bound  to  show  more  learning  and  better 
morality  as  the  only  means  of  success ;  and  that  is  why 
they  also  have  always  enjoyed  quite  different  treatment 
from  their  spiritual  sons. 

The  Roumanian  priest  is  a  State  official,  and  paid  by 
the  State,  but  the  Roumanian  peasant  will  nevertheless 
pinch  himself  to  pay  the  priest  for  those  various  religious 
rites  which  he  would  not  do  without  for  worlds,  and  for 
which  Ithe  priest  is  indispensable,  such  as  christenings, 
weddings,  burials  ;  as  for  the  general  Church  service,  the 
peasant  does  not  care  a  bit  if  the  priest  goes  through  it  or 
not,  and  if  he  had  to  pay  for  it,  I  am  afraid  he  would 
rather  do  without  it. 

Although  not  often  found  at  church,  the  Roumanian 
peasant  is  a  deep  thinker  and  searcher  into  the  inexplic- 
able, which  he  ever  tries  to  fathom,  as  proved  by  his  large 
store  of  traditions  about  big  things  and  small  things, 
all  trying  to  penetrate  the  secrets  of  nature.  All  the 
problems  that  have  for  ages  aroused  the  greatest  interest 
in  mankind  have  been  thought  of,  and-aH  answer  has 
been  imagined  (or  borrowed,  if  thought  more  satisfactory), 
and  various  legends  have  been  shaped  to  explain  nature 
and  its  secrets ;  to  answer  the  eternal  whence  ?  and 
whither?  It  would  take  long  to  enlarge  upon  all  the 
traditions,  especially  with  all  their  variations ;  some  of 
them,  however,  will  enable  us  to  understand  the  peasant's 
thoughts  about  the  universe.  God  Himself  is  considered 
as  an  all-powerful  Being ;  as  a  good,  patient,  and  good- 
natured  Being,  who  has  once  trodden  the  earth  in  human 
shape,  mostly  in  the  company  of  His  faithful  St.  Peter, 
going  among  men,  healing  and  mending  what  was  wrong, 
but  often  also  having  very  narrow  escapes  from  quite 
human  adventures — like  a  good  thrashing,  for  instance — 
which  St.  Peter  was  not  always  fortunate  enough  to 
avoid.  Innumerable  tales  are  told  of  the  time  when  God 
and  the  Saints  walked  upon  earth. 

The  universe,  the  world  (lumea),  is  confined  to  the  earth 
(pdmintul).     God  has  made  the  earth  out  of   nothing, 


170         FEOM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

according  to  some  traditions,  by  just  spitting  into  his 
palm;  with  the  help  of  the  hedgehog,  according  to 
others ;  with  the  help  of  a  much  less  commendable  person 
according  to  another  tradition — said  to  be  of  Bulgarian, 
i.e.,  Slav  origin — viz.,  with  the  help  of  the  devil  himself. 
God  made  the  earth  with  a  flat  surface,  floating  on 
endless  water,  but  it  being  heavier  than  the  water,  it  is 
supported  by  two  large  fishes.  These  fishes  fretting 
violently  about,  the  earth  went  in  and  out,  and  so  springs, 
rivers,  valleys,  and  mountains  came  into  existence.  The 
fishes  still  move  from  time  to  time,  but  are  unable  to  do 
more  than  cause  earthquakes.  The  earth  is  surrounded 
with  water,  and  on  that  outer  water  lie  the  edges  of  the 
sky,  which,  like  a  bull-skin,  is  stretched  above,  having  in 
it  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars.  And  beyond  the 
visible  sky  there  are  six  more  skies ;  in  the  seventh 
heaven  is  the  residence  of  God.  According  to  some 
traditions,  the  sky  and  earth  were  once  very  close 
together,  and  God  with  His  saints  could  walk  at  pleasure 
up  and  down ;  but  once  an  old  woman  behaved  very 
wickedly  towards  God,  and  He  was  angry ;  and  ascend- 
ing the  heaven  with  His  saints,  raised  it  to  its  present 
height  for  ever.  Other  traditions  tell  that  God  made  the 
earth  with  the  help  of  the  frog,  which  at  His  bidding 
dived  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  and  brought  out  some  clay 
for  Him,  so  that  He  could  see  that  there  was  earth  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  which,  when  He  saw.  He  bid  the 
waters  retire  on  both  sides,  and  the  earth  came  out  and 
rested,  as  it  always  will,  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 
And  the  frog  was  rewarded  with  God's  blessing  for  the 
service,  and  that  is  why  it  is  a  sin  to  kill  a  frog.  And 
the  earth  is  supported  on  four  pillars,  and  Judas  is  sitting 
at  the  bottom  gnawing  at  them  in  order  to  bring  down 
the  earth  and  drown  it,  but  he  cannot  succeed,  because 
when  he  has  done  with  one  pillar  and  moves  to  the  next, 
the  gnawed  one  grows  again.  When  the  devil  helps 
God,  it  is  also  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  that  he  picks 
up  some  clay,  only  he  is  all  the  time  trying  to  cheat  God 
and  make  a  world  to  his  own  fancy ;  but  God  gets  the 
better  of  him. 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      171 

The  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  devil  is  quite  as  strong 
as  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  God,  and  the  fear  of  the 
former  in  no  way  weaker  than  that  of  the  latter.  The 
saying  is  general  among  Roumanians : — 

"  Great  is  God,  but  clever  also  is  the  devil."  * 

God  has  made  the  devils  by  thrusting  out  of  heaven  some 
angels  who  aspired  to  make  themselves  greater  than 
Himself ;  it  is  a  widespread  tradition ;  but  another  says 
that  when  God  created  man  He  created  angels  and  devils 
as  well,  and  that  the  devils  were  made  on  purpose  to 
frighten  man,  and  to  keep  him  in  obedience  to  God.  And 
the  devils  are  innumerable,  spread  about  in  the  air  and 
down  below  in  hell,  where  the  chief  of  the  devils  resides, 
the  devil  yar  excellence,  the  great  dracu,  all  the  minor 
draci  being  his  servants.  A  devil  is  a  very  troublesome 
being,  apt  to  appear  under  all  sorts  of  shapes,  especially 
of  animals,  but  only  of  those  whose  hairs  he  can  count ; 
that  is  why  he  never  yet  could  take  the  shape  of  a  sheep. 
Neither  can  he  assume  the  shape  of  a  beehive,  the  bees 
being  sacred,  as  they  make  the  wax  of  which  the  tapers 
used  in  church  are  made.  The  devil  can  enter  anywhere, 
except  the  church,  that  is  near  the  altar — which  in 
Oriental  churches  is  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  church 
— where  the  scent  of  the  incense  is  unbearable  to  him. 
Incense  and  the  cross  will  keep  away  the  devil ;  he  is 
also  hardly  ever  spoken  of  without  the  addition  of  the 
protecting  formula  "  Golden  cross  with  us  "  {cruce  de  aur 
cu  noi).  In  case  of  danger,  if  you  only  are  able  to  make 
the  sign  of  the  cross  with  the  tip  of  your  tongue,  you  may 
consider  yourself  safe. 

The  names  given  to  the  devil  are  numberless,  and  are 
always  used  in  preference  to  his  common  name;  "the 
unclean,"  "  kill  him  the  cross,"  **  the  horned  one,"  "  the 
small  one,"  "  the  one  on  the  treasure,"  "  Skaraosky," 
&c.  Space  is  full  of  devils,  always  trying  to  do  mischief ; 
in  covered  places,  in  waters  where  sunbeams  cannot 


'^  "  Mare-i  Dumnezeu,  dar  me^ter  e  ^i  Dracul." 


172         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

penetrate,  devils  are  always  at  work.  The  devil's  object 
is,  of  course,  man,  whom  he  wants  to  drag  into  hell  by  all 
sorts  of  means.  Not  that  the  devil  is  entirely  impervious 
to  good  feelings ;  he  seems  quite  accessible  to  gratitude, 
and  there  is  a  quite  moving  tale  about  a  devil  serving  a 
man  faithfully  for  three  years  and  doing  him  all  sorts  of 
good  turns,  for  a  piece  of  mamaliga  given  when  he  was 
hungry.  But  if  a  man  knowingly  enters  into  terms  with 
the  devil  he  is  sure  of  perdition.  Old  women — men  also, 
but  seldom — are  particularly  suspected  of  being  in  friendly 
relations  with  the  devil ;  the  power  of  their  witchcraft  is 
universally  feared,  and  cannot  be  undone  save  by  other 
witcheries  or  by  a  reading  by  the  priest  from  holy  books. 
The  devil-myth  is  extremely  varied,  but  sometimes,  in 
talking  of  him,  one  man  or  another  will  meaningly  shake 
his  head  and  say :  "  What  greater  devil  than  man  do  you 
want  ? "  However,  there  seems  to  be  a  greater  one, 
woman,  who  alone  has  been  able  to  turn  the  devil's  hair 
white !  But  that  one  did  it  by  her  cleverness ;  of  old 
witches  it  is  said  that  they  have  startled  the  devil  by  a 
refinement  of  wickedness  superior  to  his  own.  That  is 
also  why  hell's  foundations  are  supported  on  seven  old 
women,  and  when  one  happens  to  give  way,  the  devil 
runs  across  the  world  to  hunt  up  a  new  one. 

In  the  rear  of  the  devil  march  other  similar  evil  spirits, 
for  example  the  Stafia,  the  ghost  of  a  deceased  person 
or  animal.  Any  great  building  of  stone  or  brick  must 
have  a  ghost,  otherwise  it  could  never  stand  up.  The 
ghost  is  supposed  to  be  obtained  in  this  way.  The 
builder  takes  the  measure  of  the  person  or  animal  from 
behind  with  a  string  or  a  reed,  and  builds  that  measure 
in  the  wall.  Within  forty  days  the  measured  being  is 
sure  to  die,  and  his  or  her  ghost  will  appear  every  night 
about  the  building,  doing  as  a  rule  no  harm  whatever  to 
any  one.  This  belief  lies  at  the  bottom  of  a  fine  legend 
about  the  building  of  the  cathedral,  Curtea  de  Argesh,  the 
Me§terul  Manole. 

The  strigoi,  or  the  vampire,  is  the  ghost  who  comes  out 
of  his  tomb  on  particular  nights.  The  pricolici  are  men 
turned  into  wolves.     The  vircolaci  are  a  kind  of  animals 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS   RELIGION      173 

eating  up  the  moon  at  the  eclipses.  The  moroi  are  the 
souls  of  unchristened  dead  babies.  The  Mama  Pddurcij 
the  "mother  of  the  forest,"  is  quite  an  imposing  figure, 
playing  a  prominent  part  in  almost  every  tale,  appearing 
under  various  feminine  shapes,  especially  of  old  women, 
grinding  her  teeth  on  a  millstone  in  order  to  eat  people, 
roasted  or  raw. 

To  avoid  all  these  foes,  the  Roumanian  peasant  has 
many  innocent  means,  like  the  throwing  of  shreds  on 
places  where  he  has  sat,  the  not  looking  behind  when  he 
walks,  or  not  answering  when  he  hears  himself  called,  or 
making  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  hand  or  tongue ;  but 
by  far  the  safest  means  is  to  keep  quiet  at  home  until 
after  the  fateful  hour  of  midnight,  as  all  these  spirits  are 
at  work  only  at  night.  Midnight  itself  (Miaza-Noapte) 
is  a  personality  of  the  ''mother  of  the  forest  "com- 
plexion. 

About  man's  creation  there  are  also  several  traditions. 
God  made  man  of  clay,  that  is  why  he  is  so  weak  and 
fickle.  All  men  were  at  first  Jews,  and  of  such  a  size 
that  stepped  easily  from  hill  to  hill.  Adam  was  such  a 
Jew  ;  his  body  was  so  large  that  he  was  not  entirely  and 
completely  decayed  at  the  coming  of  Christ.  The  men  of 
modern  size  are  of  later  origin,  from  Christ  downwards. 
Once,  some  such  smaller  men  were  ploughing  on  a 
hillside,  when  there  appeared  a  Jewish  girl  of  some  ten 
or  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  picking  up  three  of  these  men, 
with  ploughs  and  oxen,  she  put  them  in  her  apron  and 
took  them  to  her  mother,  saying  :  "  Look,  mother,  I  have 
found  these  flies  scratching  the  ground."  "Oh  no," 
answered  the  mother ;  "  carry  them  back  again,  dear ; 
these  are  not  flies:  these  are  men  who  are  to  inherit  the 
earth  after  us."  The  big  men  becoming  so  wicked  that 
no  more  understanding  was  possible  between  them  and 
God,  He  sent  a  swarm  of  the  small  flies  which  get  into 
the  eyes,  and  the  big  men,  all  getting  blind,  died  of  hun- 
ger, unable  to  provide  any  more  for  their  food.  Other 
traditions  speak  of  these  men  having  come  to  destruction 
by  the  great  flood. 

Again,   ever  and  anon  we  come  across  glimpses  of 


174         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

mythological  beliefs  as  to  "giants*'  (urie§i)  who  came 
after  the  Jews ;  cy clops y  with  one  eye  in  the  forehead ; 
men  with  two  heads  ;  cdpcduni,  who  used  to  eat  ordinary 
men  roasted,  and  were  the  very  worst  of  all  races ;  then 
"half  men,"  very  weak  and  stupid;  men  with  seven 
hands  and  seven  feet,  but  powerless  with  all  that,  as  they 
got  entangled  in  their  too  numerous  limbs.  All  those 
men  have  disappeared  now,  good  just  to  play  a  part  in  a 
tale ;  there  seem  to  exist  still,  it  is  said,  small-sized  men, 
as  small  as  children,  called pitici  (dwarfs),  who,  neverthe- 
less, are  so  strong  that  they  can  overthrow  the  strongest 
man.  God  made  woman  at  the  same  time  as  man,  and 
to  distinguish  them  he  put  beside  them  a  hoe  and  a 
distaff ;  when  they  awoke  the  man  took  up  the  hoe,  the 
woman  the  distaff,  and  their  divergent  destinies  were 
thereby  settled  for  ever.  But  those  implements  were  used 
rather  as  playthings  then,  as  man  and  woman  had  every- 
thing without  work.  But  when  woman,  under  the  devil's 
persuasion,  ate  apples  of  the  forbidden  tree,  and  squeezed 
some  juice  into  her  husband's  mouth  as  he  was  sleeping, 
they  were  both  punished  by  having  to  earn  their  livelihood 
by  hard  work  with  those  same  implements,  the  man  with 
the  hoe,  the  woman  with  the  distaff.  And  hence  began 
the  woe  and  misery  of  humanity,  by  woman's  guilt  alone, 
and  that  is  why  woman  has  been  cursed  and  has  only  a 
three-sided  cross  on  her  head,  while  the  man  has  a  full 
cross  with  four  limbs  ; — and  a  peasant  woman  will  always 
walk  behind  her  husband,  because  his  head  is  divided  in 
four,  says  she,  whilst  hers  is  only  divided  in  three,  and  it 
is  not  fitting  ("  nu  se  cade  !  ")  that  a  woman  should  walk 
in  front  of  a  man.  And  that  is  also  why  woman  is  weaker 
than  man,  and  why  she  never  can  be  a  priest,  or  even 
enter  the  sanctuary;  and  her  mind  is  weaker,  too,  except 
at  mischief-making,  where  she  gets  the  best  of  the 
devil  himself,  whom  also  she  resembles  more  than  man 
does.  And  many  irreverent  traditions  there  are  as  to 
woman's  origin. 

On  the  whole,  the  Roumanian  peasant  does  not  allow 
himself  criticisms  about  God's  creation ;  God  made  the 
bad  as  well  as  the  good,  and  as  to  why  He  created  the 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      175 

bad,  well,  **God  did  not  fill  the  world  with  what  He 
would,  but  with  what  He  could."  * 

The  people  have  numberless   legends   to  explain   the 
origin  of  animals  and  birds,  some  of  them  touching  indeed ; 
and  also  of  all  things  on  earth,  and  of  the  stars  in  heaven. 
The  stars  are  lights  burning  in  heaven  for  men  below, 
and  whenever  a  man  dies  his  star  falls.      The  falling 
stars  are  sure  forebodings  of  somebody's   death.     The 
falling  stars  are  also  called  zmei  (''  Kytes,"   a  kind  of 
dragons)  of  the  devil's  household,  who  usually  hide  in 
trees,  and  if  a  tree  has  fallen  under  such  suspicion,  it  is 
well  to  burn  it,  and  then  the  zmeu  is  heard  screeching 
inside  until  it  dies.     When  a  woman  falls  into  unreason- 
able, inexplicable  love,  she  is  said  to  be  tormented  by 
such  a  zmeu,  called  also  shurdtor  (a  flier),  that  is  why  it 
is  such  a  good  action  for  a  man  to  kill  a  zmeu  when  he 
gets  the  chance.     The   sun  and  moon  have  their  own 
legends ;  and  the  Milky  Way  is  either  "  Trajan's  Way," 
or  "  the  Slaves'  Way,"  to  lead  the  captives  back  home 
when  they  have  escaped  from  captivity.      The  comets, 
the  *'  tailed  stars  "  {stele  cu  coadd),  are  foretellers  of  war. 
The  Koumanian  peasant  strongly  believes  in  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  in  future  resurrection,  and  "the 
other  world"  (lumea  cei-l-alta),  in  hell  (iad),  and  heaven, 
{raiy  paradise).     The  soul  going  out  at  the  moment  of 
death,  in  the  shape  of  a  bluish  vapour,  takes  its  way 
towards  the  heavens,  but   is  stopped  on    the  way  by  a 
number    of   *'  toll   gates    or    duty  houses    of  the    air " 
{vdmile  vdzduhului),  which  it  cannot  pass  unless  the  dead 
man  has  accomplished  the  traditional  usages  during  life, 
or  others  have  done  so  for  him  at  his  death.     About 
heaven  and  hell  they  think  what  is  thought  in  general ; 
but   to   secure  heaven  and   a    comfortable   life   therein, 
the   surest  means  is  the  giving  away  of  alms,  together 
with   paying  for  services   at   church,  Masses,  and  such 
like;    among  the  faults    that    will    lead   one    to    hell, 
injustice  is  foremost.     In  many  cases   they  seem  to  be 
quite  sure  about  the   appearance  of  heaven  or  hell,  as 

*  "  Dumnezeu  n'a  umplut  himea  cu  ce  a  vrut,  dar  cu  ce  a  putut  I  " 


176         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

very  often  they  or  some  relatives  of  theirs,  during  some 
dangerous  illness,  have  been  taken  into  the  other  world, 
and  have  actually  seen  what  it  is  like.  Anyhow,  they 
do  not  seem  to  fear  death  much,  but  prefer  an  easy  death 
to  a  hard  one ;  an  easy  death  seems  to  be  the  greatest 
bliss  the  Roumanian  peasant  looks  forward  to  for  the 
end  of  his  earthly  career. 

He  also  believes  in  the  ertd  of  the  world,  the  vremea 
de  apoi  (the  time  of  afterwards) ,  which  will  be  announced 
by  great  sufferings  and  mischiefs,  embodied  in  the  **  Anti- 
christ," after  which  a  rain  of  fire  will  come  down,  and 
/  the  crust  of  the  earth  will  be  burnt  nine  yards  deep,  and 
become  as  white  as  chalk,  as  it  was  at  the  very  beginning, 
becoming  only  dark  with  the  multiplying  sins  of  man- 
kind. Very  often  the  much  worried  peasant,  sick  of 
what  he  sees  and  suffers,  will  look  wistfully  and  say : 
"  A  venit  vremea  de  apoi  "  ("  The  time  of  afterwards  has 
come "),  much  inclined  to  think  that  the  end  of  the 
world  cannot  be  very  far  off  after  all  the  wickedness 
let  loose  on  it. 

But  now  and  then  you  come  across  latent  doubt  and 
unbelief :  "  People  say,  heaven  and  hell  are  in  this 
very  world,  and  there  is  nothing  afterwards,"  with  the 
quick  addition,  however,  of  "  but  who  knows  ?  "  So  it 
is  safer  not  to  anticipate.  Whatever  may  be  in  the 
next  world,  the  peasant  strives  to  fulfil  his  traditional 
duties  in  this.  He  respects  the  commands  of  the 
Church  in  paying  for  Mass,  and  in  fasting  and  holiday 
keeping;  but  the  holidays  he  keeps  in  his  particular 
traditional  way,  and  besides  the  Church  holidays,  he 
respects  a  good  many  holidays  of  pagan  origin.  Un- 
fortunately, keeping  a  holiday  means  for  him  just  not 
to  work,  and  nothing  more. 


ni 

Spring  sets  in  with  March,  which  "  is  never  amiss 
from  Lent,"  Mart  din  post  nu  lipse§te,  goes  the  saying. 
Indeed,    the    Greek -Christians     are    very    keen     about 


THE   PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      177 

keeping  their  fasts,  which  are  not  few:  seven  weeks 
before  Easter,  as  many  before  Christmas ;  four  weeks 
in  June,  before  St.  Peter's  Day,  and  two  in  August 
before  St.  Mary's,  besides  the  three  days  of  the  week, 
Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Friday.  Lent  is  seven  weeks 
long,  and  in  this  interval,  the  Roumanian  peasant 
becomes  entirely  vegetarian,  with  no  milk,  no  butter, 
no  eggs,  not  even  olive  oil,  which  together  with  fish 
is  allowed  on  certain  fasting  days — never  on  a  Friday  or 
Wednesday.  Monday  fasting  is  not  quite  so  universal, 
being  mostly  kept  for  the  welfare  of  the  cattle,  by 
those  who  possess  them.  Eating  flesh  on  a  prohibited 
day  is  the  greatest  sin  possible.  There  have  been  cases 
where  criminals  appearing  before  justice,  while  owning 
their  crime,  for  the  sake  of  stating  the  precise  time 
have  said,  "  It  was  not  a  flesh  day,  for  we  found  some 
food  there,  but  we  couldn't  touch  it,  remembering  it 
was  Friday." 

These  severe  fasts,  especially  in  spring,  have  been 
found  to  tell  hard  on  the  peasant's  health.  Not  long 
since  the  Metropolitan  sent  a  circular  ordinance  allowing 
people  to  eat  fish  during  fasts,  but  the  peasants  would 
never  hear  of  it :  "  The  Mitropolit  may  eat  fish  himself, 
if  he  likes ;  we  are  not  going  to !  "  The  rich,  on  the  other 
hand,  keep  no  fasts  at  all,  but  the  peasants  are  not  much 
shocked  at  it :  **  The  boiars  may  well  afford  to  eat 
flesh  on  fast  days;  they  have  plenty  of  money  to  pay 
for  their  sins,  whilst  we  have  no  other  means  of  re- 
deeming them  except  by  fasting."  The  peasant  will 
sell  his  eggs  to  buy  some  vinegar  to  eat  with  his  garlic 
and  mamaliga.  Children  are  obliged  to  fast  quite  as 
much  as  their  parents. 

The  ninth  of  March,  the  "Forty  Saints'  Day,"  is 
particularly  feasted,  with  wheat  cracknels  or  twisted  bread, 
colady  in  a  00  shape,  sprinkled  over  with  honey  and 
pounded  walnut.  A  plateful  of  these  colaci,  called  sfinti- 
§ori  (little  saints) ,  is  taken  to  church,  and  these  sfinti^ori 
are  given  away  as  alms  all  day  long  if  possible.  Not  only 
on  the  Forty  Saints'  Day,  but  on  every  holiday,  good 
pious  Christians — women,  mostly  old  ones — take  to  church 

13 


178         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

all  sorts  of  gifts,  mostly  a  coliva,  a  soft  cake  made  of 
bruised  corn,  with  honey  and  walnut,  colact,  crown-Hke 
twisted  bread,  and  wax  candles,  and,  if  possible,  oil  and 
wine.  They  also  bring  the  primiticBj  the  first-fruits  of 
the  season,  fruit,  flowers,  wheat.  The  Forty  Saints'  Day 
is  also  a  weather  foreteller  :  the  weather  of  that  day  will 
last,  it  is  said,  for  forty  days  to  come.  Total  fasting, 
eating  absolutely  nothing,  is  supposed  to  draw  particular 
protection  from  the  good  saints — still  better  is  it  if  you 
can  make  forty  genuflexions  for  each  of  the  forty  saints 
on  the  eve  of  that  day.  On  that  day  the  man  takes  out 
his  labour  implements  to  get  them  in  good  working  order ; 
the  wife  spreads  a  row  of  ashes  round  the  house  that  the 
serpent  may  not  enter  it.  The  peasant  strongly  believes 
in  the  house's  serpent  as  a  protecting  being,  a  genius  loci, 
often  represented  also  under  the  shape  of  a  serpent  by 
his  ancestors,  the  Romans.  The  house  serpent  is  quite 
different  from  the  common  serpent,  and  it  would  be  a 
great  sin  to  kill  it,  and  sure  to  bring  misfortune  on  the 
house. 

With  fasting  and  genuflexions  and  hard  field  labour, 
the  Roumanian  peasant  has,  however,  a  cheerful  pro- 
spect to  look  forward  to — the  approaching  Easter  Day. 
Easter  is  his  greatest  feast,  and  lasts  at  least  three  days, 
often  almost  the  whole  week.  Indeed,  the  feast  begins 
eight  days  before,  as  the  whole  sacred  week,  Sdptdmina 
patimilor  (the  week  of  the  sufferings),  is  made  up  of 
preparations  for  Easter.  Palm  Sunday,  Floriile  (from 
Latin  Florales),  is  already  the  forerunner  of  Easter — the 
peasant  may  even  put  on  the  new  garments  he  has  got 
ready  for  Easter  Day,  which  he  would  on  no  account  do 
at  any  other  time. 

On  Thursday  before  Easter,  Joi-mari  (Great  Thursday), 
early  in  the  morning,  before  the  third  cock's  crow,  the 
men  make  bonfires  in  their  yards,  supposed  to  represent 
the  fire  in  front  of  which  Peter  warmed  himself  and 
denied  the  Saviour  thrice  before  the  cock's  third  crow — 
practically  in  those  fires  the  peasants  bum  up  the  rubbish 
that  has  been  accumulating  in  their  yards  all  through  the 
winter.    The  women,  on  the  other  hand,  go  to  the  well, 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      179 

and  throw  several  pails  of  water  round  it,  and  after  these 
libations  they  go  and  spill  one  pail  of  water  on  their 
parents'  grave,  and  finally  bring  water  home. 

For  Easter  the  peasant  prepares  long  beforehand ;  the 
last  penny  is  saved  for  the  necessary  purchases.  If  pos- 
sible, one  must  put  on  for  Easter  only  new  things,  or  at 
any  rate  unimpeachably  clean  things.  The  house,  too, 
is  prepared  for  the  occasion ;  not  the  smallest  cottage  but 
will  be  cleaned  from  top  to  bottom,  inside  and  out,  and 
the  walls  whitewashed,  and  the  woodwork  painted  red, 
making  the  villages  look  particularly  cheerful  at  this  time 
of  the  year,  the  bright  cottages  being  dotted  over  the 
green  of  lawn  and  trees,  a  splendid  background  for  the 
happy  crowds  dancing  on  the  village  green  round  the 
traditional  swing,  the  scrdnciob. 

There  are  Church  services  in  the  evening  all  through 
the  week,  but  the  only  crowded  ones  are  on  Friday  and 
Saturday.  On  Friday,  the  holy  aier — the  holy  "  air," 
the  holy  shroud,  a  cloth  with  Christ's  entombment 
painted  on  it,  is  taken  out  of  the  sanctuary  and  spread 
on  a  table  in  the  middle  of  the  church,  and  all  through 
the  afternoon  people  will  enter  silently,  kiss  it,  make 
genuflexions,  and  crawl  underneath  the  table.  At  night 
it  is  "  buried,"  after  a  procession  round  the  church,  by  the 
light  of  yellow  wax  tapers  which  every  one  has  in  his 
hand.  On  Saturday  night,  on  the  stroke  of  midnight,  the 
bells  are  tolled  at  the  village  church ;  the  dark  church  is 
soon  filled,  and  when  the  priest  comes  out  of  the  sanctuary 
with  his  lighted  white  taper  in  his  hand  and  announces 
**  Christ  has  risen  t  "  "  Verily  He  has  risen  !  "  comes  forth 
the  answer  a  hundredfold,  and  in  a  twinkling  all  the 
white  tapers  in  the  hands  of  the  congregation  and  about 
the  church  are  spreading  a  joyous  light  around.  All 
faces  are  bright,  hearts  light ;  the  simple  people  feel  full 
of  unaccountable  joy,  as  if  now  every  trouble  has  been 
done  away  with,  and  only  bright  prospects  are  before 
them  ;  as  if  with  Christ  man  and  all  nature  had  arisen  at 
the  same  time — and  so  indeed  it  is,  after  dead  winter ; 
in  nature  renewed  man  feels  fresher,  the  blood  runs 
c^uickened  with  new  warmth  through  his  veins ;    nature 


180         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

is  reviving  once  more  in  its  eternal  round,  and,  part  and 
parcel  of  the  great  whole,  the  human  atom  is  revived  with 
it.  It  is  his  own  resurrection  that  man  celebrates  so 
heartily  at  Easter  time. 

Young  people  who  are  able  to  carry  home  their  tapers 
burning  can  see  their  "  future  "  in  the  looking-glass. 

The  long  fast  is  broken  at  once,  with  red  eggs  and 
pasca  (a  cake  made  with  flour,  eggs,  butter  and  cheese), 
a  young  roasted  lamb,  and  as  much  wine  as  can  be  had. 
First  of  all  they  greet  each  other  by  cracking  each  other's 
egg,  knocking  them  against  each  other  with  the  stereo- 
typed words,  "  Christ  has  risen  ! "  '*  Verily  He  has 
risen !  "  The  one  who  holds  the  stronger  egg  is  supposed 
to  outlive  the  other. 

On  Easter  Day  the  heavens  are  open — as  they  also  are 
all  through  the  week,  the  "lighted  {luminata)  week;" 
and  a  splendid  time  it  is  to  die  in,  as  the  soul  meets  no 
toll-gates  whereat  to  pay  "  air  duties,"  and  can  enter 
heaven  at  once. 

The  three  Easter  days  are  duly  feasted  with  dancing 
and  swinging  in  the  scrinciob  from  mom  to  night,  with 
eating  of  pasca  and  "  knocking  of  red  eggs "  and 
merriment,  and  paying  of  visits  and  bringing  of  presents 
to  relations,  especially  to  godfathers  and  godmothers,  to 
resume  on  the  fourth  day  the  old  burdens  of  life,  but  with 
a  lighter  heart. 

On  Monday  after  Thomas  (Low)  Sunday  comes  the 
Blajini,  a  day  particularly  respected  by  women  in  some 
parts.  The  Blajini  (a  feast  of  Slav  origin)  are  supposed 
to  be,  as  their  name  indicates,  meek,  good-natured  men, 
very  good  and  agreeable  to  God,  living  in  some  distant 
fairyland,  by  the  "  Sunday  water."  They  also  seem  to  be 
out  of  touch  with  what  is  passing  in  the  world,  and  do 
not  know  when  Easter  is.  Therefore,  women  ought  to 
throw  the  red  egg  shells  on  running  water  to  be  carried 
down  to  the  Blajini,  so  that  they  may  see  Easter  has 
come  and  celebrate  it. 

St.  George,  on  the  twenty- third  of  April,  is,  so  to  say, 
the  herald  of  spring,  of  fine  weather,  which  now  has 
set  in  for  good.    As  the  gipsy  saying  goes :  "  Give  me 


r 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      181 

St.  George  in  the  palm,  and  I  give  you  the  summer  "  *  The 
Roumanian  is  just  as  desirous  of  fine  weather  as  the  ever 
shivering  gipsy.  If  the  spring  has  been  wet  and  warm, 
by  St.  George's  Day  "the  rook  hides  easily  in  the 
green  corn."  On  the  eve  of  St.  George's  day,  loads  of 
willow  branches,  of  ivy  or  honeysuckle  are  brought  from 
the  nearest  forest,  and  sods  from  the  neighbouring  lawn ; 
with  these,  doors  and  windows  are  adorned  about  the 
house,  and  still  more  about  the  stables,  to  preserve  man 
and  beast  against  evil  spirits  who  otherwise  might  break 
in  and  take  away  the  cow's  milk,  disturb  the  baby's  sleep, 
the  youthful  dreams  and  good  luck  of  girls  and  boys.  This 
usage  is  said  to  be  a  remnant  of  the  Roman  Ana  Ferenna 
festivals,  celebrated  in  March  in  similar  way.  On  St. 
George's  eve  the  milk  of  the  cows  or  sheep  may  be  taken 
away  by  witchcraft.  The  shepherds,  to  save  their  ewes, 
get  up  before  dawn  and  blow  their  bucium : 


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Witchcraft  cannot   come  within  the   sound  area  of  the 
bucium. 

On  St.  George's  morning,  at  dawn,  the  girls  in  their 
finest  attire,  with  their  milk-white  wooden  pails  in  hand, 
or  hanging  to  the  coromisla  thrust  aslant  on  the  shoulder, 
walk  down  to  the  well  to  fetch  fresh  water ;  on  their  way 
home  they  are  met  by  the  fldcdi,  the  young  men,  who 
throw  fresh  water  into  their  faces,  dispersing  with 
laughter  the  fair  flock,  who,  quite  happy  at  the  bath 
received  at  the  hands  of  the  favourite  fldcdUy  run  away 
to  household  business,  and  then  to  the  merry  dance  on 
the  village  green — a  hard  beaten  ground  indeed.  On 
St.   George's  morning  everybody  provides  himself  with 

=*'  *'  Da-mi  pe  Sintu  Gheorghe'n  palma  si-ti  dan  vara." 


182         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

some  nettles,  and  then  a  hunt  begins,  each  trying  to 
prick  the  other  on  some  bare  spot,  the  alertest,  quickest, 
smartest,  always  having  the  best  of  it. 

The  third  Tuesday  after  Easter  another  pagan  day 
comes  in,  observed  by  women  too,  especially  in  Valachia, 
the  Bepotini,  traced  as  far  back  as  the  Roman  Bepotia. 
On  that  day  women  will  gather  together,  and,  putting 
aside  all  other  work,  will  set  to  work  to  model,  with  clay 
and  straw,  stopples  for  the  stove  and  festuri  (from  the 
Latin  testum),  a  kind  of  vessels  to  bake  bread  in.  On 
this  occasion  the  women  drink  wine,  with  which  they 
also  besprinkle  their  work.  On  this  day  they  are 
supposed  to  be  allowed  to  behave  harshly  towards  their 
husbands. 

About  the  third  Thursday  after  Easter,  if  rain  is  badly 
needed,  the  Paparude  begin  to  go  about ;  generally  gipsies 
covered  all  over  with  green  weeds,  mostly  wall- wort,  with 
trimming  of  coloured  ribbons  and  flowers.  They  go 
dancing  from  house  to  house,  reciting  words  intended 
to  bring  down  rain: — 

"  Papamda-ruda, 
Come  and  wet  us, 
For  the  rains  to  fall 
With  the  water-pails 
That  the  ears  may  grow 
As  high  as  the  hedges 
To  augment  the  wheat 
And  to  fill  the  barn."  * 

The  housewives  go  out  and  drench  them  with  pails 
full  of  water.    Though  they  are  similar  to  the  Roman 


Paparuda-ruda, 

Vino  de  ne  uda 

Ca  sa  cada  ploile 

Cu  gale^ile 

^i  sa  creasca  spicele 

Cit  gardurile 

Sa  sporeasca  granele 

Sa  umple  patulele." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      183 

Bohigalia,  the  Paparude  are  said  to  be  of  Thracian 
origin.  In  some  places,  if  the  drought  is  very  protracted, 
women  set  to  work  to  knead  yellow  clay  and  model  with 
it  a  miniature  figure  of  a  man,  a  Galoian — can  it  be  a 
remote  reminiscence  of  the  Emperor  Caloianus  or 
lonitzd  ? — which  they  set  in  a  small  coffin,  cry  over  him 
as  over  a  dead  person — helping  out  the  tears  with  onion, 
if  necessary — burn  incense  round  him,  and  bury  him, 
near  the  well  for  preference,  singing  verses — 

"0  Caloian-ian 
Go  to  heaven  and  ask 
To  open  the  gates 
To  let  loose  the  rains 
To  run  down  like  streams 
Days  and  nights, 
That  the  wheat  may  grow,"  &c.  * 

After  three  days  he  is  unearthed  and  thrown  in  the 
river,  in  order  to  trouble  the  waters,  to  raise  clouds  and 
provoke  rain.  That  day  men  will  labour  till  twelve 
o'clock  only,  and  then  drink  and  dance  at  the  inn. 
About  the  bringing  down  of  rain,  they  have  many  other 
superstitions,  among  them  the  ghastly  one  of  unearthing 
the  corpse  of  some  one  stricken  by  lightning  and 
throwing  it  into  running  water. 

The  first  of  May  (Armindin)  used  once  to  be  a 
universal  and  lively  feast,  celebrated  with  much  merry- 
making ;  now  it  is  falling  into  disuse,  being  only  kept 
up  still  in  some  measure  by  those  who  can  afford  to  give 
up  work  on  that  day,  gather  in  crowds  in  the  green 
flowery  fields,  and  break  their  fast  with  red  pelin  (wine 
made  bitter  with  wormwood)  and  a  young  lamb  roasted 
in  its  skin. 


*  "  Caloiene-iene 
Dute'n  cer  §1  cere 
Sa  deschida  por^ile, 
Sa  sloboada  ploile 
Sa  curga  ca  garlele 
Nop|iile  ^i  zilele 
Ca  sa  creasca  garnele,"  &c. 


184         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

The  last  day  of  May,  or  rather  the  sixth  Saturday  after 
Easter,  always  on  the  eve  of  Trinity,  is  the  '*  Day  of  the 
Dead,"  a  most  important  day  with  Roumanian  women. 
According  to  their  means  they  distribute  alms  for  the 
souls  of  the  dead.  The  Roumanian  peasant  thinks  a 
great  deal  of  alms,  and  whenever  he  gives  anything  he 
says,  "  Be  it  for  the  soul  of  such  or  such  person."  Not 
that  he  likes  begging — far  from  it.  In  villages  you  will 
hardly  ever  meet  an  old  beggar,  and  even  then  it  is  more 
than  likely  to  be  some  gipsy,  or  harmless,  friendless  lunatic. 
But  the  peasant,  whenever  he  gives  or  receives  anything 
for  nothing,  considers  it  as  alms ;  it  is  for  somebody's  soul. 
Moreover,  a  peasant  often  gives  for  his  own  soul;  it  is 
quite  a  duty  towards  the  soul  to  give  alms,  a  ddrui,  while 
still  in  life,  for  its  repose  in  the  next  world.  "  Whoever 
gives,  gives  to  himself,"  goes  the  saying,  for  whatever 
you  give  away  in  this  world  you  will  get  back  in  the  next. 
Even  a  well-to-do  peasant  will  never  feel  humiliated  if 
you  give  him  something  for  nothing — he  will  much 
rather  feel  hurt  if  you  pay  him  for  any  kindness, 
especially  hospitality,  which  he  may  have  offered 
you — as  for  an  alms,  he  will  accept  it,  and,  think,  more- 
over, he  is  doing  you  a  kindness  by  accepting,  as  it  is 
for  the  benefit  of  your  own  soul.  On  ''the  Saturday" 
of  the  dead,  alms  are  given  and  received  right  and  left, 
with  as  much  iclat  as  possible  ;  new  pails,  new  pitchers, 
new  earthen  vessels  of  all  kinds  are  bought  in  good  time, 
and,  adorned  with  flowers  and  filled  with  wine  and 
eatables,  are  sent  round  to  friends  or  acquaintances,  even 
if  richer,  but  of  course  mostly  to  those  who  are  poorer. 
And  the  recipient  will  eat  and  drink  from,  and  use  as 
long  as  they  last,  the  vessels  given  him,  for  the  repose 
of  the  soul  of  the  giver  or  any  special  person  mentioned 
with  the  gift. 

A  very  respected  and  much  dreaded  holiday  is  that 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  Bussalii,  hostile  divinities, 
supposed  to  have  been  originally  three  Emperor's 
daughters,  very  ill  disposed  towards  all  mankind  for  not 
having  had  attention  paid  them  during  their  lives.  The 
Russalii  are  said  to  be  ever  running  about,  over  fields 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      185 

and  woods,  from  Trinity  to  St.  Peter's  Day  (29th  of 
June);  they  raise  the  winds  and  the  storms,  and  make 
the  whirlwinds,  and  one  is  in  great  danger,  if  caught 
out  of  doors,  of  being  raised  above  ground  and  brought 
to  destruction  by  them ;  especially  are  they  dangerous  to 
children,  whom  they  are  apt  to  snatch  from  their  mothers' 
very  arms.  A  peasant  will  not  work  on  Trinity  Day  for 
anything  in  the  world.  For  nine  weeks  running  after 
the  Bussalii  the  women  will  gather  no  medicinal  herbs, 
in  the  belief  that  they  have  been  ** pinched"  by  the 
Bussalii,  and  have  consequently  no  healing  power  what- 
ever, but  rather  work  mischief.  On  the  eve  of  the 
Bussalii  one  must  put  twigs  of  wormwood  under  one's 
pillow,  otherwise  the  Bussalii  might  unroof  the  house 
and  snatch  you  away  withal.  On  the  day  of  Bussalii 
a  bunch  of  wormwood  ought  to  be  worn  in  the  belt. 

The  Bussalii,  said  to  originate  from  the  Latin  feast  of 
the  roses,  Bosalia,  are  generally  mixed  up  and  identified 
with  the  somewhat  different  evil  divinities,  lelele,  "  man's 
enemies,"  "mistresses  of  the  wind,"  air  or  wind  divinities, 
very  wicked,  imparting  all  sorts  of  diseases,  especially 
palsy,  to  the  unfortunate  person  who  should  happen  to 
meet  them,  or  only  just  sit  down  or  tread  on  a  place 
where  they  have  rested.  The  belief  in  the  lele  has  in- 
duced the  Roumanian  peasant  to  devise  innumerable 
means  of  protecting  himself  against  supernatural, 
invisible,  indiscernible  dangers,  as,  for  instance  :  never 
to  stop  at  a  crossway — it  is  the  very  abode  of  the  lele  : 
if  one  is  not  sure  which  way  one  has  to  go  from  the 
crossing,  one  ought  rather  to  stop  before  it,  to  make  up 
one's  mind,  or  then  go  a  little  further,  even  though  one 
must  come  back  again,  but  never  on  any  account  stop  in 
the  midst  of  the  crossing ;  never  sit  down  in  any  strange 
place  and  then  go  away  without  leaving  behind  some  small 
thing  belonging  to  you,  be  it  ever  so  small,  as  a  bit  of 
thread  from  your  garments,  or  suchlike ;  never  drink 
water  from  a  spring  or  well  without  leaving  behind  a  shred 
or  something ;  the  evil  that  was  to  befall  you  will  stick 
to  what  you  have  left.  Most  of  the  diseases  that  cannot 
be  accounted  for  are  attributed  to  the  lele.     "  It  is  from 


186         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  lele  I  got  it,"  is  the  answer  as  to  the  origin  of  many 
a  trouble,  like  blindness,  lameness,  pustules,  &c.  The 
habas  (old  women)  will  advise  you  always  to  carry  some 
garlic  in  your  belt  or  purse,  to  keep  the  lele  at  a  distance. 

These  spirits  are  also  called  by  other  names. 
Vintoasele  (the  windy  ones),  as  they  are  called  about 
Transylvania  and  Bucovina;  the  Valachs  about  the 
Pindus  call  them  also  Alhele  (the  white  ones),  while  the 
Moldavian  peasant  has  invented  for  them  the  appellation 
of  Dinsele — which  is  nothing  else  than  the  verbal  transla- 
tion of  iehy  which  as  well  as  dinsele  means  the  plural 
feminine  pronoun  *'  they."  But  the  universal  name  with 
all  Roumanians  is  lele,  with  the  article  lelele. 

For  the  curing  of  diseases  got  from  the  lele  the  babas 
have  all  sorts  of  incantations,  in  which  they  give  those 
ladies  various  polite  epithets,  in  order  to  coax  them  out 
of  the  diseased  body  or  limb;  they  call  them  in  turn 
Frumoasele  (the  handsome  ones) ;  Maiestrele  (the  over- 
powerful  ones) ;  Zinele  (the  fairies) ;  Bunele  (the  good 
ones) ;  which  names  are  also  used  to  signify  the  divinities 
themselves. 

Another  much  dreaded  saint  is  St.  Elie  (Elijah),  the 
Christian  Vulcan,  the  maker  of  thunder  and  lightning, 
who  in  his  chariot  of  fire  drives  noisily  about  the  heavens, 
hunting  after  devils.  God  had  given  St.  Elie  special 
power  to  kill  all  the  devils,  ever  since  the  day  He  thrust 
them  out  of  heaven  Himself,  but  later  on  He  thought 
better  of  it — according  to  other  legends  the  advice  came 
from  the  devil  himself — and  made  up  His  mind  to  spare 
some  devils,  as  otherwise  men  would  possibly  feel  no 
more  need  to  worship  Him,  as  there  would  be  no  more 
devils  to  tempt  them  to  sin.  St.  Elie  being  rather 
displeased  with  the  limitation  put  upon  his  killing  power, 
God,  to  cheer  him  up,  promised  him,  that  on  his  name's 
day  he  would  be  allowed  to  kill  all  devils.  But  then  God 
never  tells  St.  Elie  when  his  name's  day  is,  and  that  is 
why  there  are  still  devils  alive.  When  St.  Elie  is  out 
after  them,  the  hunted  devils  will  hide  in  every  possible 
place,  and  to  avoid  their  vicinity  man  must  not  sit  under 
a  tree  during  a  storm,  especially  not  under  a  plane-tree, 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS   RELIGION      187 

the  devil's  favourite  tree;  he  must  not  walk  in  narrow 
glens,  must  keep  far  from  goats  or  cats,  shut  windows 
and  doors,  as  all  these  are  favourite  hiding  places  of 
the  devils,  and  St.  Elie,  striking  at  them,  might  strike 
the  innocent  man  or  his  house.  But  a  thunderstorm  can 
be  stopped,  or  at  least  any  disastrous  effect  parried,  by 
lighting  an  Easter  candle,  if  you  have  preserved  one,  and 
making  genuflexions,  or  by  sticking  an  axe  in  the  middle 
of  the  yard  and  showering  over  it  a  handful  of  salt. 

On  the  morrow  of  St.  Elie  is  the  Ilie-Pdlie  (St.  Elie's 
brother,  they  say),  more  powerful  and  more  wicked  than 
he,  consequently  his  day  is  still  more  strictly  observed 
than  the  former's,  although  it  is  no  Church  feast  at  all. 
But  much  more  dangerous,  and  for  this  reason  ever  so 
much  more  dreaded  and  respected,  is  the  third  day  {Foca) 
sure  to  bring  fire  on  the  property  of  the  bold  person 
working  on  that  day. 

Another  meteorological  event  still  worse  than  thunder 
is  hail,  which  comes  down  in  the  heat  of  summer  to  beat 
down  whole  fields,  just  ready  for  harvest,  reducing  thus 
to  naught  in  one  hour  the  hopes  of  the  whole  season, 
and,  haply,  the  food  of  the  whole  next  year.  In  con- 
nection with  this  dreadful  evil,  charlatanism  has  found 
its  way  among  the  credulous  people,  namely,  the  warding 
off  of  hail  by  incantations  and  witcheries,  dealt  in  by 
some  cunning  charlatans  called  Solomonari,  who  manage 
to  get  hold  of  people's  fancy  and  of  people's  pence,  in 
many  a  quiet  village,  which  they  pretend  to  preserve 
from  hail.  As  chance  will  often  have  it,  their  incantations 
seem  to  have  really  kept  away  a  hail  that  has  been  raging 
a  few  miles  off;  if  they  do  not,  well,  then,  it  is  because 
of  the  sins  of  the  people,  who  surely  have  not  faithfully 
kept  some  feast  or  fast !  Many  a  peasant  is  ready  to 
doubt  the  power  of  the  Solomonari,  "  but  after  all,  who 
knows,  it  is  better  not  to  draw  their  anger  upon  oneself,'* 
for  they  are  said  by  some  to  be  able  to  bring  down  hail  on 
unbelievers ;  and  then  their  demand  upon  the  peasant's 
purse  is  not  so  great,  about  fivepence,  at  most  one  franc 
for  the  season  from  each  head  of  a  family,  is  ample 
supply  for  the  charlatan.      And   then  there  are  such 


188         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

clever  Solomonari  who  can  drive  rats  away  from  barns, 
and  make  them  run  away  in  flocks  by  mere  incantation, 
and  cure  animals  of  various  complaints,  and  so  on. 
And,  to  conclude  this  subject,  there  is  no  end  of  super- 
natural means  of  making  and  unmaking  things  otherwise 
beyond  human  power,  means  based  on  direct  suggestion 
or  employed  at  a  distance,  apt  to  puzzle  others  besides 
simple  credulous  children. 

On  the  16th  of  November  Advent  begins,  a  fast 
observed  just  as  strictly  as  Lent,  and  not  shorter.  On 
this  occasion  there  are  days  considered  as  holy  under 
the  name  of  Philippi,  observed  also  by  women  alone. 
They  do  no  hard  work  those  three  days ;  they  do  not 
throw  out  rubbish,  it  being  a  dangerous  thing  on  account 
of  the  wolves,  but  they  will  readily  do  their  washing, 
in  order  to  burn  the  wolf's  muzzle,  as  they  say,  with  the 
hot  lye. 

To  complete  the  list  of  the  popular  saints,  there  comes 
in  St.  Andrew^  on  November  30th,  a  creepy  holiday 
that  is,  at  least  the  night  preceding  it,  as  some  of  the 
dead,  the  strigo'i  or  vampires,  are  supposed  to  rise  from 
their  tombs,  and  with  their  coffins  on  their  heads  walk 
about  the  premises  they  lived  in  during  their  lives. 
Before  candle  light  every  woman  will  take  some  garlic 
and  anoint  with  it  the  door  locks  and  the  window 
casements;  this  will  keep  away  the  strigoi.  They  will 
only  take  away  the  hemp  brakes,  and  using  them  as 
weapons,  will  fight  among  themselves  at  the  crossways 
until  the  first  cock's  crow,  when  they  hurriedly  disperse. 
But  the  ghastliest  part  of  it  is,  that  some  people  are 
believed  to  be  vampires  from  their  very  birth,  to  live 
and  die  as  such,  without  being  recognisable  by  any 
exterior  sign.  Some  maintain,  however,  that  a  living 
vampire  is  sure  to  strongly  shun  garlic  and  the  scent  of 
incense;  others  pretend  that  a  vampire  has  a  rudiment 
of  a  tail ;  when  these  vampires  are  dead  and  buried  their 
tombs  sink  lower  than  those  of  ordinary  men.  And  the 
worst  of  it  is  that  these  living  vampires  are  supposed  to 
take  part  in  the  St.  Andrew's  night  row ;  on  such  a 
night  they  are  said  to  show  a  fancy  for  sleeping  out 


THE   PEASANT  AND   HIS  RELIGION      189 

of  doors,  and  then,  brake  in  hand,  go  to  fight  at  the 
cross  ways.  Or,  again,  a  living  vampire  will  not  go 
bodily  to  mix  with  the  dead  ones,  but  his  soul  will ; 
under  the  appearance  of  a  bluish  flame  it  comes  out 
through  the  mouth,  takes  the  shape  of  some  animal, 
and  runs  to  the  crossway.  If,  in  the  meantime,  the 
body  were  moved  from  its  place,  the  person  would  be 
found  dead  next  morning,  as  the  soul  could  not  find  its 
way  into  it  again.  Of  the  persons  Hkely  to  be  vampires, 
a  superstition  exists  as  to  this  fate  awaiting  the  seventh 
child  of  the  same  sex  in  a  family.  A  living  vampire, 
if  he  finds  himself  discovered,  will  die  ;  a  dead  one,  if 
discovered,  must  be  buried  again  with  a  stake  through 
his  heart,  and  will  never  rise  again. 

St.  Andrew's  Day  has  also  a  value  in  connection  with 
forecasts  or  predictions.  Early  in  the  morning  fond 
mothers,  anxious  about  their  children's  good  luck,  go 
into  the  garden,  and  **  with  a  clean  conscience  "  break 
some  small  sprays  from  an  apple,  a  pear,  and  a  rose  tree, 
or,  these  failing,  from  an  apricot,  cherry,  and  quince  tree. 
These  sprays  are  bound  together  in  small  bunches,  one 
for  each  member  of  the  young  family,  and  put  in  a  glass 
of  water  daily  changed.  Until  New  Year's  Eve  the 
bunch  of  the  lucky  one  will  be  in  full  blossom. 

The  great  feast,  in  winter  are  the  Christmas  holidays, 
which,  with  some  interruptions,  extend  over  a  whole  fort- 
night, and  are  kept  practically  all  through  the  two  weeks. 
The  preparations  for  Christmas  are  almost  as  grand  as 
those  for  Easter,  with  this  difference,  that  whilst  the 
latter  are  mostly  in  the  line  of  clothing,  the  former  are 
more  in  the  line  of  eatables,  as  it  ought  to  be : — 

"  A  gorgeous  Easter,  a  plethoric  Christmas."  * 

Even  before  the  beginning  of  Advent,  a  pig  has  been 
put  apart  in  a  cotet,  a  little  pig-sty  of  his  own,  to  fatten, 
and  whilst  everybody  else  about  the  house  has  to  deny 
himself,   and   from  grandfather  to  grandson  draw  the 


*  "Pa^tele  fudul,  Craciunul  satul." 


190         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

girdle  one  hole  tighter,  and  ever  tighter,  the  serene  and 
careless  pig  has  a  good  time  such  as  he  has  never  knov^n. 
But  the  Ignat  (the  St.  Ignacius  on  the  20th  of  December) 
comes  at  last ;  the  day  of  reckoning  has  come  :  from  the 
early  morning  you  may  see  from  every  yard  the  blue 
smoke  ascending  the  sky,  with  its  shadow  capriciously 
stretched  across  the  snow-coated  hill.  Under  the  burnt- 
out  straw,  thrown  aside  with  the  iron  fork,  the  pig  is 
discovered  in  his  hard  skin,  turned  ivory  after  some 
rubbing  and  scrubbing,  whereupon  the  cutting  out  begins. 
The  joints  for  ham,  the  sides  for  the  bacon,  are  carried 
up  to  the  loft  for  smoke ;  the  rest  of  the  meat  being 
mostly  used  for  the  filling  of  the  traditional  cdrna^i 
(carnacius)  and  chi§te,  the  former  being  the  thin  ones, 
filled  mostly  with  meat,  the  latter,  the  wider  ones,  filled 
with  passat,  the  national  rice,  the  seed  of  the  millet. 
And  on  a  Christmas  day  there  is  no  peasant  table  on 
which  the  roasted  cdrnati  will  not  be  grilling  in  their 
own  fat,  beside  a  golden  smoking  mdmdliguta.  For 
the  well-to-do  feel  obliged  to  help  towards  the  good 
cheer  of  the  poor  on  such  a  day,  and  those  who  have 
not  been  able  to  fatten,  or  at  least  to  kill  even  a  meagre 
pig  for  Christmas,  are  sure  to  get  some  meat  from  those 
who  have ;  gipsies  are  often  in  that  position.  Besides 
the  pork-curing  the  other  great  business  of  baking  is 
going  on ;  the  housewife  makes  for  these  holidays,  if 
not  bread,  at  least  colaci,  several  stoves-full  of  them,  as 
being  the  most  indispensable  eatables  for  the  occasion ; 
these  colaci  are  of  various  sizes,  but  mostly  of  the  size 
to  get  one's  fist  through.  Otherwise,  wheat  bread  is 
an  exceptional  food  with  the  Roumanian  peasant ;  his 
"daily  bread"  is  the  mdmdliga,  a  hard  porridge  made 
of  maize  flour. 

The  Christmas  Eve,  the  Ajun^  the  day  of  the  24th 
of  December,  the  last  of  Advent,  is  a  holiday  too,  and 
a  special  dish  is  eaten  in  every  household,  the  turte.  It 
is  made  up  of  a  pile  of  thin  dry  leaves  of  dough,  with 
melted  sugar  or  honey  and  pounded  walnut,  the  sugar 
being  often  replaced  by  the  juice  of  bruised  hemp  seed, 
supposed  to  be  sweet  too.     These   turte  are  meant  to 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      191 

represent  the  Infant  Christ's  swaddhng  clothes.  The 
dough  is  prepared  on  the  previous  evening,  and  in  some 
places  it  is  used  as  a  means  of  making  the  trees  bear  a 
rich  crop  of  fruit  in  the  coming  summer,  a  kind  of 
suggestion  to  Nature  by  threatenings.  The  wife,  with 
her  fingers  full  of  dough,  walks  into  the  garden ;  the 
husband,  axe  in  hand,  follows  close  after.  They  stop  at 
the  first  tree,  and  he  says :  "  Look  here,  wife,  I  am 
going  to  fell  this  tree,  as  it  seems  to  me  it  bears  no 
fruit."  "  Oh  no,  husband,"  she  answers,  "  don't,  for  I 
am  sure  next  summer  it  will  be  as  full  of  fruit  as  my 
fingers  are  full  of  dough  !  "  And  so  on  with  every  other 
tree. 

Christmas  Eve  is  announced  with  great  display  of  gaiety 
from  the  very  dawn  by  young  boys  running  about  from 
house  to  house  with  the  shout  of:  ''Good  morning  to 
Uncle  Eve  !  "  in  return  for  which  they  expect  to  receive 
something — a  colaCy  at  least,  with  an  apple  or  some  dried 
fruit  added,  or  even  money.  If  they  are  left  to  wait  too 
long,  they  will  repeat  several  times  the  greeting  : — 

"Good  morning  to  Uncle  Eve; 
Do  you  give,  or  do  you  not  ?  "  * 

And  if  the  bounds  of  patience  are  passed,  humorous 
allusions  will  be  added,  where  the  expectation  of  getting 
something  is  poor.  Sometimes  these  greetings,  called 
also  colinde,  are  enlarged  upon,  and  become  elaborate 
recitations.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  they  seem  to 
be  gradually  dying  out,  in  proportion  as  those  greeted 
do  not  seem  to  find  it  particularly  amusing  to  be 
awakened  at  such  an  unusual  hour  and  the  greeters  find 
it  more  and  more  difficult  to  obtain  anything. 

On  the  morning  of  Christmas  Eve  the  priest  walks 
round  from  house  to  house,  with  a  sacristan  in  his  rear, 
and  a  boy  bearing  a  kettle  full  of  holy  water ;  the 
priest  holds  in  his  hand  a  sfistok,  a  bunch  of  sweet-basil, 
which  he  dips  into  the  kettle,  and  sprinkles  the  house  all 

*  "Buna  diminea^a  la  mo§  AjunI 
Ne  da^i  ori  nu  ne  da^i  ?  " 


192         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

over.  The  housewife  will  drop  some  coin  into  the  kettle, 
present  the  priest  with  a  fuior  of  hemp,  a  handful  of 
brushed  hemp  ready  for  spinning,  and  invite  him  to  table, 
where  the  turte  are  ready,  with  possibly  other  fasting 
dishes,  and  with  wine.  The  priest  may  accept  or  decline, 
according  as  the  meal  appeals  to  his  appetite;  at  any 
rate,  he  must  at  least  taste  a  morsel,  and  will  hardly 
ever  refuse  a  glass  of  wine.  The  priests  have  a  settled 
reputation  of  being  able  to  swallow  more  food  than  any 
other  human  creature,  hence  the  saying  **  belly  of  priest " 
(pintece  de  popd)  applied  to  those  who  eat  too  much. 

The  real  colindce  are  performed  in  the  evening  of  the 
24th  and  repeated  on  the  31st  of  December.  They  are 
supposed  to  originate  from  the  Latin  calendce,  festum 
calendarium,  pagan  feasts,  which  Christianity,  unable  to 
abolish,  has  adopted  and  used  for  its  own  service,  basing 
them  on  the  cult  of  the  Nativity.  The  colindce  are 
numerous  and  varied.  All  versified,  they  sometimes 
reach  the  length  of  three  hundred  verses,  beginning 
generally  with  a  typical  verse  and  the  ever  recurring 
refrain : — 

"  This  evening  is  a  great  evening, 
White  flowers; 
Great  evening  of  Christmas, 
White  flowers."  * 


Or  again  with — 


"Get  up,  get  up,  great  sirs. 
White  flowers; 
For  colinders  come  to  you, 
White  flowers."  \ 


*  **Asta  sara-i  sara  mare, 
Florile  dalbe; 
Sara  mare-a  lui  Craciun, 
Florile  dalbe." 

f  "  Scula^i,  scula^ii,  boieri  marl, 
Florile  dalbe; 
Ca  va  vin  colindatori, 
Florile  dalbe." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      193 

Sung  to  the  following  tune  : — 


fe 


-I — \- 


Then  they  will  go  on  to  say  how  they  have  come,  and 
what  welcome  they  have  met  with,  and  how  they  have 
christened  people,  and  what  they  have  been  presented 
with  in  return,  and  end  with  the  equally  typical 
refrain  : — 

"For  so  is  the  law  of  old, 
From  the  old  and  the  good  men"  * 

used  in  connection  with  the  performance  of  any  other 
ancestral  custom — after  which  follows  a  more  or  less 
stereotyped  formula  of  greetings  for  "next  year  and 
many  to  come." 

A  good  many  of  these  colindce  have  a  sacred  subject : 
the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars  are  brought  into  action ; 
God  Himself  and  the  saints  are  set  to  talk  and  to  act 
in  these  recitals.  Some  of  them  are  interesting  as 
pointing  out  the  virtues  which  the  peasant  most  prizes, 
together  with  his  ideas  of  the  next  world  and  the  part 
God  and  the  saints  play  in  his  imagination.  One  of 
these  colindcB  begins  with  the  description  of  a  river, 
in  which  God  is  supposed  to  be  bathing  with  two  saints, 
John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Christmas ;  the  master  of  the 
house  is  then  supposed  to  step  into  the  river  also  to 
take  a  bath,  whereupon  God,  rather  astonished  at  so 
much  daring,  asks  him  peremptorily  how  he  comes  to 
do  it:  "Whom  do  you  rely  upon,  being  so  bold?"  says 
the  Almighty ;  "  is  it  upon  Me,  or  upon  either  of  the 
saints?  "  But  the  man,  not  in  the  least  abashed,  gives 
the  answer:    "I  am   not  relying  upon  you,   0   Lord, 


'  C'a§a-i  legea  din  batrani, 
Din  batrani  din  oameni  buni. 

14 


lU         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

neither  on  the  saints,  but  I  am  relying  on  my  own  good 
deeds,  for  I  married  young,  I  built  my  house  by  the 
road,  I  have  laid  my  table  across  the  road,  have  fed 
passers-by,"  and  he  goes  on  to  describe  how  he  has 
built  bridges  over  precipices,  and  dug  wells  in  desert 
fields,  at  which  God,  well  pleased,  praises  him  for  the 
good  done  in  this  world,  promising  him  fair  return  in 
the  next,  and  sajdng  to  him: — 

"Go  to  heaven  untried, 
Sit  down  to  dinner  unasked, 
Drink  the  glass  unpledged."  * 

Then  comes  the  greeting  formula  with  the  unvaried 
ending :  "  Next,  and  many  years  to  come  !  "  {La  anul  §i 
la  mul^i  ani!)  Other  colindae  relate  the  flight  of  the 
Holy  Virgin  with  the  Infant  Christ ;  in  others,  Christ,  in 
the  midst  of  His  Apostles,  explains,  at  their  request,  the 
origin  of  wine,  corn,  and  oil,  as  coming  from  His  blood, 
His  sweat.  His  tears,  during  His  torment  on  the  cross. 

There  are  a  large  number  of  colindce  of  a  quite  secular 
character  ;  traditions,  very  often,  or  simply  ballads  adapted 
to  the  occasion,  with  the  additional  refrain  of  '^  Lev  oi 
Leo  !  "  (supposed  to  be  a  reminiscence  of  the  Emperor 
Aurelian's  name,  the  deserter  of  Dacia)  and  the  formula 
of  greetings  at  the  end.  National  events  enter  into 
them  very  often,  as  wars  with  the  Turks  on  land,  with 
the  Franci  at  sea,  into  which  a  fair  girl  will  often  be 
introduced,  saved,  and  then  wedded  by  some  Roumanian 
hero — the  master  of  the  house  for  the  time  being;  or 
fine  horses,  gorgeously  harnessed,  supernaturally  strong, 
and  **  seers "  into  the  bargain,  most  faithful  friends  to 
their  loving  masters ;  or  flocks  of  tame  ewes,  pasturing  on 
the  hill,  with  the  *'  seeing  "  ewe  among  them,  foretelling 
the  approach  of  the  cruel  hunter ;  or  again,  the  colinda 
will  tell  the  tale  of  a  beautiful  girl,  lying    softly  in   a 


*  "  Mergi  la  rai  nejudecat, 
^ezi  la  masa  ne-chemat, 
Bea  paharul  ne'  nchinat." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      195 

hammock  hung  between  the  antlers  of  a  deer,  singing  in 
her  sweet,  sad  voice  : — 

"Gently,  still  gentlier 
Over  three-yearling  deer,"* 

predicting  the  hunter's  approach,  her  wedding  with  him, 
and  the  timely  death  of  the  hart,  whose  skin  and  antlers 
are  to  adorn  her  house.  Other  colindm  will  describe  the 
pleasures  of  hunting,  with  friendship  and  rivalry  between 
horse  and  falcon,  or  an  over-conceited  stag,  too  proud  of 
his  nimbleness,  killed  by  a  smart  hunter — frequently  the 
master  of  the  house.  In  others,  finally,  domestic  happi- 
ness is  described,  with  the  pleasures  of  the  home,  the 
garden  with  its  flowers  and  trees,  the  persons  and  their 
gorgeous  attire;  or  some  bridal  and  the  many  claims 
of  the  bridegroom  as  to  dowry,  to  give  them  all  up  at 
last  for  a  "fair  face,"  and  ''red  lips,"  and  ''inky  eye- 
lashes." The  very  end  of  the  world  is  foretold  as 
happening — 

"When  the  son  will  beat  his  father, 
And  the  daughter  her  mother, 
The  godson  his  godfather, 
The  god-daughter  her  godmother."  f 

Then  the  earth  will  be — 

"Burnt  up  in  the  flame  of  fire. 
And  in  the  flashes  of  hell."  | 

Another  customary  practice  about  the  Christmas 
holidays,  and  a  great  event  in  boys'  life,  is  the  Star 
{Steaua),  a  big  star,  made  of  wood,  borne  on  a  wooden 


*  "  Lin,  mai  lin 
Cerbe  stretin." 

f  "  Cind  a  bate  fiu  pe  tata, 
Fiica-sa  pe  mama-sa, 
Finu-seu  pe  nasu-seu, 
Fina-sa  pe  nasa-sa." 

I  "Ars  in  para  focului. 
Si  'n  valvoarea  iadului.' 


196         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

pole,  and  covered  with  gilt  and  painted  paper,  adorned 
with  frills  of  cut  paper  and  little  bells.  In  the  middle 
of  the  star  is  stuck  a  representation  of  the  **  manger," 
with  the  Holy  Virgin,  St.  Joseph,  the  Baby  Christ, 
and  the  three  wise  men  ;  at  the  back  of  it,  a  small  candle 
burning,  under  glass,  lighting  the  transparent  picture. 
On  the  top  comer  of  the  star  there  stands  a  picture 
of  Adam  and  Eve  deceived  by  the  serpent ;  in  the 
other  corners,  winged  heads  of  angels.  This  star  is 
carried  about  from  house  to  house  by  schoolboys,  who 
in  earlier  times  used  to  go  attired  in  special  garments, 
but  go  now  in  their  ordinary  every-day  clothes.  They 
stand  at  the  door  in  small  or  large  numbers,  and,  shaking 
the  star  to  make  the  bells  ring,  sing  carols  about  the 
birth  of  Christ,  the  adoration  of  the  wise  men,  and  such 
like,  with  the  somewhat  stereotyped  introduction  of : — 

"  Who  receives 
The  fair  star 
With  many  corners 
And  small  ones, 
Presented  by  Christ 
Like  a  bright  sun,"  * 

chanted  on  the  following  melody : — 


i 


q=T: 


— t- 


■^=E 


f^^jg^^ 


The  star  is  carried  about  during  the  whole  fortnight, 


*  *'Cine  prime^te 
Steaua  frumoasa 
Cu  col^uri  multe 
^i  marunte 
Daruita  de  Christos 
Ca  un  soare  luminos. 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      197 

and  the  boys  get  money  for  their  singing.  It  is  supposed 
to  be  a  reHc  of  the  pagan  A  telancB,  mimce,  satirce. 

Another  symbohcal  representation  of  the  birth  of 
Christ  is  the  so-called  Vicleim  (from  Bethlehem,  the 
birth-place  of  Christ),  or  the  Irozi  (from  Irod,  Herod, 
the  principal  person  of  the  play).  With  all  its  religious 
subject,  this  is  a  theatrical  performance,  hence  its 
description  will  find  a  more  convenient  place  further  on 
in  the  chapter  about  amusements,  together  with  the 
many  other  performances,  like  Dolls,  Brezaia,  con- 
stituting the  cycle  of  Christmas  festivities. 

New  Year  {Anul  nou),  St.  Basil's  Day,  is  very  con- 
spicuous in  the  popular  calendar.  It  is  announced  from 
the  very  eve  by  the  Plugu§orul  ("little  plough  "),  another 
amusement  in  which  boys  and  adults  go  about  from  house 
to  house,  soon  after  dark  and  late  into  the  night,  with 
long  recitations  of  greeting,  having  especially  good 
harvests  in  view,  with  noisy  accompaniment  of  bells 
and  whip-cracking.  On  the  night  preceding  New  Year's 
Day  the  heavens  open  and  the  beasts  speak;  one  can 
overhear  them  and  listen  to  what  they  say,  but  it  is 
unlucky ;  and  the  trespasser  on  the  beasts'  privacy  will 
die  before  the  year  is  out.  If  a  man  can  catch  the 
moment  when  the  heavens  are  open  he  may  get  anything 
he  asks  for,  but  the  best  thing  to  ask  is  well-being  in 
the  next  world,  only  to  catch  that  short  moment  is  so 
extremely  difficult. 

On  New  Year's  morning  there  is  the  widespread 
custom  of  sowing  (samanatul) ,  namely,  people  greet  each 
other  by  throwing  a  handful  of  corn  at  one  another,  and 
saying  some  appropriate  words,  such  as  : — 

"  May  you  live, 
May  you  flourish 
Like  apple-trees, 
Like  pear-trees  * 


'i'  "  Sa  traie^ti, 
Sa  inflore^ti 
Ca  meri, 
Ca  peri 


198         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

In  spring  time, 

Like  wealthy  autumn, 

Of  all  things  plentiful."  - 

This  New  Year  greeting  is  usually  addressed  by  the 
young  to  the  old,  the  poor  to  the  rich ;  the  answer  to 
it  is  some  substantial  present,  money  generally.  In 
towns,  the  houses  of  the  well-to-do  are  practically 
besieged  with  "  sowers  " ;  all  the  servants,  all  employed 
far  or  near,  will  come  to  get  a  tip  in  return  for  their 
sowing :  it  is  really  the  Roumanian  Boxing  Day.  It 
is  also  the  day  of  sending  presents  to  any  one.  In 
some  places  the  corn  is  omitted,  but  never  the  greeting, 
only  the  greeters  go  about  with  a  Sorcova,  a  stick 
ornamented  with  flowers — originally  the  flowers  of  the 
sprays  gathered  and  put  into  water  on  St.  Andrew's 
Day,  which  were  supposed  to  blossom  till  Christmas, 
if  the  possessor  of  the  little  cluster  had  luck.  It  seems 
that  the  old  Romans  used  to  greet  each  other  every 
New  Year  with  a  branch  of  laurel. 

The  last  act  of  the  great  winter  festivities  is  the 
Epiphany  (Boboteaza),  and  the  day  preceding  it,  the  Eve 
day. 

The  Eve  of  Epiphany  (Ajunul  Bohotezei)  is  celebrated 
in  the  same  way  as  Christmas  Eve,  with  fasting,  with 
eating  of  turte^  with  the  priest  going  from  house  to 
house  and  besprinkling  all  with  holy  water.  Fasting  on 
that  day  is  supposed  to  be  particularly  good  for  keeping 
away  all  sorts  of  evils,  and  pecuniary  losses  in  particular. 
Boys  will  willingly  fast,  in  order  to  have  luck  at  catching 
birds  with  the  snare.  The  priest  is  presented  again  with 
hemp  and  wool,  and  some  meat,  and,  if  possible,  with 
money.  By  all  means  he  must  be  invited  to  be  seated 
a  while  on  the  bed,  otherwise  the  brooding  hen  will 
not  sit  on  the  eggs  ;  moreover,  the  housewife  should  have 
taken  care  to  put  on  the  bed,  under  the  mattress,  maize 
grains ;   by  the  priest  sitting  upon  them,  the  hens  will 

*  In  timpul  primaverei, 
Ca  toamna  cea  bogata, 
De  toate  'ndestulata." 


THE   PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      199 

lay  lots  of  eggs.  Besides,  it  is  a  very  good  thing  to 
get  some  of  the  hemp  the  priest  has  his  fishtoch  tied 
with,  which,  tied  then  to  the  fishing  net,  will  bring  in 
any  amount  of  fish.  Girls  are  very  anxious  to  get  some 
sweet  basil  from  the  priest's  ^s/t^ocZ:,  it  being  particularly 
good  for  love  incantations.  If  in  a  household  there  are 
troubles  and  things  do  not  go  on  as  well  as  they  should, 
the  housewife  may  on  this  occasion  bring  back  the  good 
luck  ;  to  do  that,  when  the  priest  steps  out  of  the  house 
she  must  take  the  cociorva  (the  hooked  poker)  and,  as 
if  by  mistake,  draw  back  the  trivet  by  the  leg.  At 
night,  the  heavens  open  again,  and  one  may  make  wishes. 
This  night  is  also  particularly  propitious  for  magic  with 
regard  to  marriage.  All  sorts  of  means  are  employed 
to  find  out  how  soon  one  is  to  get  married,  who 
the  "future  one"  is  to  be,  and  what  sort  of  person. 
On  the  Epiphany  morning,  too,  efforts  are  made  to 
inspire  love. 

"With  these  festivities  the  winter  cycle  is  practically 
closed ;  in  a  few  weeks,  Lent  comes  in  again. 


IV 

Besides  the  procession  of  saints  and  sainted  days  just 
reviewed,  the  days  of  the  week  are  endowed  with  special 
sacredness  and  power  by  the  all-hallowing  imagination 
of  the  Roumanian  peasant ;  every  week-day  is  a  saint,  a 
living  being,  in  the  popular  tales,  wanting  to  be  respected 
and  worshipped  in  his  own  way.  The  greatest  of  all  is 
Saint  Sunday  (Sinta  Duminica),  a  female  saint,  as  all 
days  are — an  extremely  respectable  person,  but  generous 
and  good-natured :  she  does  not  want  you  to  fast ;  she  only 
wants  you  not  to  work,  and  be  as  merry  and  happy  as 
you  can.  But  the  most  dreaded  day,  the  most  exacting 
and  powerful,  is  St.  Friday  (Sinta  Vineri),  worshipped 
by  fasting,  and,  if  possible,  by  total  fasting  all  day  long. 
Many  women  also  do  not  work  on  Friday,  for  health's 
sake,  they  say,  and  never  wash  their  hair  on  that  day, 
for  fear  of  remaining  widows.     Girls  usually  fast  for  the 


200        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

purpose  of  having  their  hair  grow  fine  and  beautiful. 
Wednesday  [Miercure)  and  Monday  (Luni)  are  also  saints 
and  fasting  days,  the  latter  not  so  very  exacting,  except 
for  the  people  who  have  cattle,  and  wish  to  fast  for 
the  sake  of  the  health  of  their  beasts.  Tuesday  {Mar^i) 
is  a  bad  day  to  begin  anything  on,  to  cut  out,  or  start  on 
a  journey.  So  also  is  Saturday  {Simbdta),  but  if  you 
have  some  work  begun,  do  not  end  it  entirely  on 
Saturday,  but  just  leave  a  little  to  be  done  on  Monday 
morning ;  it  is  good  for  a  long  life. 

For  the  months  of  the  year,  the  peasant  has  his  own 
popular  names,  and  also  various  means  as  to  the  fore- 
teUing  of  next  year's  harvest. 

January  is  Cdrindar,  from  the  Latin  Calendarium^ 
name  reserved  by  the  Romans  for  the  first  day  of  the 
month  only.  Gerar  is  another  name  for  January,  from 
ger,  bitter  cold,  frost. 

February,  Fdurar  and  FauTy  worker  in  metals  {faher, 
fabrum),  especially  iron;  Fdurar  ferecd  si  desferecd: 
February  fastens  and  unfastens  (with  iron),  as  frost  and 
thaw  come  in  quick  succession. 

March  is  Mdrfisor,  or  simply  Mart,  or  also  Germdnar, 
from  germene,  germ. 

April  is  Frier,  or  Florar,  the  flower-bearer. 

May,  Frunzar  or  Pratar — from  frons  and  pratum 
respectively,  the  finest  month  in  the  year,  because  of  the 
gorgeous  development  of  the  vegetation,  but  rain  is 
wanted  too,  for — 


'  No  rain  in  May, 

No  maize-meal  to  eat."* 


June  is  Cire^ar,  the  bearer  of  cire§e,  cherries. 
July,  is  the  luna  lui  cuptory  the  month  of  the  kiln, 
it  being  as  hot  as  a  kiln. 
August,  Gustar  and  Mdssalary  from  messis  (harvest). 


*  "  Nu  ploua  in  Mai, 
Nu  se  mininca  malai.' 


THE  PEASANT  AND  HIS  RELIGION      201 

September,  Bdpciune,  from  raptionem;  also  Vinicer, 
the  producer  of  wine. 

October,  Brumdrel,  from  hrumd^  hoar-frost — that  is,  the 
small  hoar-frost  bringer ;  whilst 

November  is  Brumar — that  is,  the  hoar-frost  bearer — or 
Promorar,  from  promoroacd,  white  frost. 

December,  Andrea  or  Undrea  (knitting-needle),  also 
Ningdu  or  Neios  (the  snower,  the  snowy). 


We  do  not  claim  to  have  herewith  exhausted  the  whole 
ground  of  popular  beliefs,  but  what  we  have  cited  may, 
we  hope,  give  a  fair  idea  of  what  are  the  religion  and 
religious  notions  of  the  Koumanian  peasant,  his  law,  as 
he  calls  it.  In  the  course  of  the  ages  he  has  identified 
it  with  nationality,  and  just  calls  it  lege  Bomineascd 
(Koumanian  law),  as  well  as  lege  Gre§tineasca  (Christian 
law) ;  and  as  he  uses  the  name  of  "  Roumanian  "  to  mean 
a  man,  he  will  also  say  **  a  Christian  "  for  a  man.  His 
religion,  as  he  understands  it,  he  will  keep  to,  because  his 
father  and  forefathers  have  done  so.  As  far  as  doctrine 
goes,  one  may  change  the  whole  of  it  without  his  being 
aware  of  the  change ;  but  one  could  not  change  a  thread 
of  the  material  part  of  the  cult,  of  the  worship,  without 
his  strongly  protesting  against  it.  Church  and  priest  are 
wanted  for  all  the  successive  rites  of  life;  as  to  any 
particular  food  for  the  soul,  the  peasant  does  not  get 
it  from  either  Church  or  priest,  but  by  tradition  from 
generation  to  generation.  He  knows  what  ought  to  be 
done  on  every  occasion;  the  priest  has  only  to  carry 
it  out,  being  endowed  with  the  dar  (the  gift),  just  like  a 
magician  with  his  supposed  supernatural  power.  He 
strongly  believes  in  incantations,  descintece,  harmless 
recitations,  often  accompanied  by  medicinal  herbs,  but 
oftener  also  by  mere  fresh  water  from  the  well — apd  ne- 
inceputd,  unbegun  water ;  that  is  to  say,  water  from  which 
nobody  has  drunk  yet.  They  also  believe  in  an  otherwise 
guilty  kind  of  magic,  the  farmici,  witcheries  by  which 


202         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

the  desired  result  produced  is  as  often  as  not  brought  about 
by  injury  to  somebody  else;  in  these /armtc^,  devil's  work 
is  at  the  bottom.  This  kind  of  witchcraft  is  sinful,  and 
sure  to  lead  those  who  use  it,  and  the  old  women  who 
perform  it,  into  hell.  But  if  a  man  takes  the  precaution 
of  weighing  himself  on  St.  George's  Day  he  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  witchcraft. 

The  Roumanian  peasant  has  also  a  great  fear  of 
"  curses."  A  man  who  has  been  cursed  will  not  moulder 
for  seven  years  after  his  burial ;  he  ought  therefore  to  be 
taken  out  of -the  grave,  propped  against  the  church  wall 
for  forty  days,  and  all  passers-by  must  say:  "May  God 
forgive  him  !  "  The  curse  of  parents  is  especially 
weighty,  always  being  fulfilled,  and  there  are  some 
beautiful  ballads  on  the  subject  of  a  mother's  curse.  A 
curse  is  sure  to  come  into  effect  if  pronounced  in  an 
"  evil  hour"  (ceasul  rdu);  the  Roumanian  peasant  strongly 
believes  in  good  and  evil  moments,  and  attributes  to 
them  a  great  part  of  his  fate.  For  he  believes  in  fate ; 
without  being  subject  exactly  to  Oriental  apathetic 
fatalism,  he  is  none  the  less  a  convinced  predestinarian ; 
his  predestinarianism,  however,  is  rather  of  a  consoling 
character:  whenever  the  unavoidable  has  happened,  "it 
was  written"  (a  fost  scris),  "So  it  was  to  be"  {a§a  a 
fost  sdfie).  Man  does  as  much  as  he  can  for  his  own 
good,  but  fate  is  stronger : — 

"When  there  is  to  fall  on  man 
A  to  him  unknown  evil, 
He  will  either  tarry  to  wait  for  it, 
Or  run  forward  to  meet  it."  * 

With  the  spread  of  education  in  the  country,  with  a 
better  training  of  the  priests,  superstitions  and  evil 
practices  will  die  out,  as  they  are  already  observed  to  do 
in  many  places ;  the  pagan  feasts  will  probably  die  out 


*  "Cand  omului  e  sa-i  vie 
Vre-im  rau  fara  sa-1  §tie, 
Ori  zabave^te  pana  '1  sose^te 
Ori  da  fuga  sa-1  ajunga." 


THE  PEASANT   AND   HIS  RELIGION      203 

too,  only  it  would  be  a  pity,  as  for  the  most  part  they  are 
so  closely  bound  up  with  the  origins  of  the  nation.  For 
my  part,  I  hope  women  will  keep  them  alive,  together 
with  the  other  national  usages,  just  as  they  have  kept 
alive  the  national  language,  carefully  tended  in  the 
interior  of  their  poor  cottages,  through  all  the  political 
storms  raging  outside. 

Through  the  ages  of  suffering  the  Roumanian  has 
found  consolation  and  a  renewal  of  hope  in  his  religious 
practices;  by  them  he  has  been  taught  to  put  up  with 
his  fate,  to  endure  and  to  wait.  Sfintul  A§teaptd,  **St. 
Wait,"  is  a  very  popular  and  indeed  the  only  genuine 
national  saint,  not  the  same  as  "  St.  Never,"  but  I  fear  a 
near  relative  of  his. 

For  other  people's  religions  the  Roumanian  does  not 
care:  of  the  proselytising  spirit  he  has  none.  He  has 
some  dim  idea  that  there  are  other  Christians  too,  but 
those  are  lifta,  lifta  spurcatd — they  take  milk  on  a 
Friday !  This  appellation  of  lifta  comes  probably,  with 
a  slight  metathesis,  from  litva,  litvaUy  Lithuanian,  as 
Roman  Catholicism  came  to  the  Orthodox  Lithuanians 
from  Poland,  spread  among  them,  and  then  made  its 
way  towards  Moldavia  too.  The  appellation  of  spur  cat, 
impure,  soiled,  dirty,  is  given  to  any  other  religion  but 
his  own  by  the  peasant.  The  Roumanian  peasant  is  very 
hospitable  to  every  one,  but  a  vessel  in  which  a  man  has 
eaten  flesh  food  on  a  Friday  is  spurcat ;  no  scouring  can 
make  it  clean  again,  but  some  holy  water  will  easily 
do  it.  For  his  own  use,  he  will  not  mix  pots  and  plates 
in  which  he  prepares  his  fasting  food  with  those  for  flesh 
food;  this  is  also  the  groundwork  of  cleanliness  as  a 
whole.  A  man  who  eats  flesh  on  Friday,  or  eats  toads,  or 
frogs,  or  horseflesh,  is  unclean :  the  Roumanian  peasant 
will  not  share  his  food,  or  eat  from  his  plate,  but,  after 
all,  that  is  his  own  business;  the  Roumanian  neither 
interferes  with,  nor  does  he  despise  or  hate  him  in  the 
least — he  simply  wishes  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  him. 
Marriages  are  extremely  rare  with  people  of  other 
religions,  and  even  then,  only  when  the  latter  change 
their  religion.    But  he  much  prefers  to  see  a  man  stick 


204         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

to  his  own  lege,  whatever  it  be;  a  renegade  is  more 
contemptible  in  his  eyes  than  any  frog-eater.  BeHgion  is 
for  the  Roumanian  peasant  the  greatest  obstacle  to  inter- 
mixing with  other  nations;  and  where  that  hindrance 
does  not  exist,  the  Roumanian  has  mixed,  and  has,  as 
a  rule,  denationalised  the  other.  What  floods  of  Slavs 
has  he  not  assimilated  in  the  course  of  time  !  And  where 
he  has  been  denationalised,  it  has  also  been  due  to 
religion.  The  tolerant  spirit  of  the  nation  breathes  also 
in  its  national  Church :  never  religious  strifes,  never 
religious  persecutions ;  if  there  was  a  persecution  in  the 
sixteenth  century  against  the  Armenians  in  Moldavia,  it 
was  the  prince's  doing,  not  the  people's;  if  there  were 
riots  against  Jews,  they  took  place  in  towns,  not  at  the 
peasants'  hands,  and  the  cause  has  never  been  in  the 
least  religious,  but  economic. 

Ignorant  and  narrow-minded  as  the  Roumanian  peasant 
may  appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  severe  critic,  with  his 
many  holidays  and  superstitions — which  narrowness  after 
all  is  mostly  external — he  is  at  all  events  the  very  emblem 
of  tolerance  and  non-interference ;  this  he  is  in  politics, 
in  national  affairs,  and  this  he  is  in  religion  :  he  advocates 
wide,  large-minded  liberty  for  all.  This  also  he  is  socially, 
in  his  morals  with  respect  to  his  fellow-creatures,  in 
which  goodness  is  his  leading  thread  in  the  maze  of  social 
relations.     **  Ever  do  good,"  that  is  his  untiring  formula. 

"If  a  dog  barks  at  you 
Stop  his  muzzle  with  bread,"* 

Not  that  he  expects  any  reward  for  the   good  done;  a 
good  deed  done  brings  its  own  reward : — 

"  Do  the  good  and  throw  it  on  the  road  1 "  f 


*  "De  te  latra  vre-un  cine 
Astupa-i  gura  cu  pine." 

I  "Fa  binele  §i-l  arunca'n  druml 


CHAPTEE   V 
THE   PEASANT  IN   HIS  HOME  AND  AT  HIS  WOBK 


Feom  whatever  side  one  ascends  the  Carpathians, 
following  the  course  of  one  of  the  numerous  streams 
coming  down  from  them,  one  is  sure  to  meet  with 
Roumanian  villages  which,  larger  and  wider  down  in  the 
valley,  become  smaller  and  narrower  as  we  go  up,  to  end 
in  two  lines  of  cottages  dispersed  on  both  banks  of  the 
stream  in  the  highest  glens.  Lowly  or  highly  situated, 
comfortably  spread  out  in  a  large  valley,  or  hidden  away 
in  the  narrowest,  quietest  nook,  these  villages  all  have  a 
general  appearance  of  simple  peacefulness  and  alluring 
homeliness,  sheltered  on  all  sides  by  thickly  fir-coated 
mountains,  gladdened  by  the  all-prevailing  murmur  of 
the  water  running  along  the  pebbly  vale.  Surely  people 
living  in  such  abodes  lead  nothing  but  a  peaceful  and 
quiet  life;  but  hard  toil,  scanty  earnings,  bare  living 
from  day  to  day,  is  the  eternal  problem  set  before  them. 
At  the  opposite  end  of  the  widely  spread  branch  of  the 
Boumanian  nation  in  the  Pindus,  where  the  struggle  for 
life,  if  perhaps  not  harder,  is  at  all  events  fuller  of  real 
fighting,  the  villages  have  also  a  more  appropriate  aspect. 
Built  on  the  highest  slopes  of  the  mountains,  very 
difficult  of  access,  with  their  many  storied  stone  houses, 
they  present  a  much  more  imposing,  warlike,  indomitable 
appearance  than  the  simple,  humble  Carpathian  cottages. 
The  Eoumanian  in  the  Carpathians  has  managed  to  live 
by  avoiding  and  patiently  bearing ;  the  Pindus  Eoumanian 

205 


206         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

has  struggled  by  armed  fight  for  the  same  end,  but  with 
only  indifferent  success. 

Beyond  the  Carpathians,  in  the  hilly  region  of  Free 
Roumania,  the  villages  are  situated  on  the  slopes  of  the 
hills,  amphitheatre-like,  but  with  no  other  regularity  in 
their  respective  position  except  that  they  all  look  in  the 
same  direction,  always  downhill.  Often  also  villages 
extend  over  two  or  three  hills ;  then  also  the  principle 
of  looking  down  is  observed  in  the  building  of  the 
houses,  so  that  those  on  opposite  hills  will  look  at  each 
other.  At  the  foot  of  the  slopes  the  valley  will  usually  be 
broken  by  a  gully,  sometimes  very  deep,  a  ripa,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  a  small  rill  will  be  noiselessly  trickling 
to  become  a  wild,  troubled  torrent  in  ^spring,  at  the  time 
of  the  thaw  or  after  copious  rains.  This  ripa  is  usually 
hemmed  in  with  willows,  bending  their  silvery  stems 
above  the  tiny  rivulet.  Even  in  the  plain,  villages  are 
seldom  situated  on  perfectly  flat  ground;  whenever 
possible,  they  are  sure  to  lie  on  some  bending  slope  and 
by  running  water.  At  all  events,  in  every  Roumanian 
village,  good  spring  water  must  be  at  hand,  for  there  are 
no  things  a  Roumanian  prizes  more  than  fresh  water  and 
pure  air. 

Seen  from  the  distance,  a  Roumanian  village  will 
always  strike  the  traveller  as  a  nest  of  peace,  of  comfort 
and  homeliness,  with  those  little  white  cottages  peeping 
among  the  trees,  in  their  own  yards,  more  or  less  large, 
all  away  from  each  other,  separated  by  large  stretches 
of  green  and  irregular  roads  meandering  about  in  all 
directions.  A  village  has  nothing  town-like  about  it ;  no 
mistake  would  ever  be  possible.  From  the  top  of  a  high 
hill,  let  us  say  in  Moldavia,  the  very  home  of  exquisite 
hills,  the  traveller  has  a  wide  horizon  of  hills  on  all  sides 
apparently  moving  in  the  distance  under  the  bluish  haze 
tinged  with  the  gold  of  a  rising  sun  like  the  billows  of 
a  sea,  but  studded  all  over  with  centres  of  population ; 
he  will  always  be  able  to  say  which  is  the  village  and 
which  the  town,  whatever  their  respective  sizes  may  be. 
As  different  as  the  Roumanian  peasant  is  from  the 
townsman,  so  different  are  their  respective  abodes. 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    207 

A  Roumanian  village  looks  at  its  best  in  spring,  when 
all  Nature  is  green  and  fresh ;  after  Easter,  the  cottages 
are  still  shining  with  cleanliness,  with  their  white  walls 
and  red  wood-work  under  the  thatched  roof,  like 
Roumanian  black-eyed  country  girls,  with  their  glistening 
strings  of  bright-coloured  beads  round  their  necks. 

A  Roumanian  peasant's  cottage,  the  casa  (pronounced 
"  cassa ")  as  he  calls  it,  is  invariably  surrounded  by  a 
yard,  or  rather  has  a  yard  in  front,  a  garden  behind; 
a  house  with  open  front,  and  a  yard  only  at  the  back  of 
it,  is  a  rare  thing.     The  fence  is  usually  of  hurdle  work, 
sometimes  crowned  by  a  large  edging  of  thorns,  running 
along  the  fence  like  a  boa  of  feathers  round  a  lady's  neck; 
but  this  is  mostly  the  case  in  the  vicinity  of  woods,  where 
thorns  are  easy  to  be  had.    The  entrance  is  provided  with 
gate,  and  little  gate  of  hurdle- work  too,  or  else  of  paling, 
locking   only  by  means   of  a  twisted    limewood  collar 
sliding  up  and  down  along  the  terminal  posts  of  both  gate 
and  hedge.     In  the  yard  the  house  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  most  important  if  not  always  the  largest  building; 
such  house  having  a  particular  type  of  its  own,  with  two 
variations  :  either  a  front  with  two  windows  on  one  side 
and  the  door  on  the  other,  or  else  the  door  in  the  middle 
and  the  windows  on  both  its  sides.     The  latter  type  is 
only  in  use  for  larger  houses,  where  there  is  more  than 
one  room,  but  by  far  the  widest  spread  type  is  the  first 
variety.     No  two-storied  peasant  house  is  to  be  found  in 
all  the  Carpathian  region,  except  very  occasionally,  as  in 
some  quite  new  construction,  an  inn  oftener  than  any- 
thing  else.     In   the   Balkan   Peninsula,   in   the   Pindus 
especially,  the  houses  are  built  with  three  or  four  stories 
— which  means  more  cramming  for  space,  more  need  of 
resistance  and  defence.     The  difference  in  the  material 
used  is  also  striking :  stone  in  the  Pindus,  clay  and  wood 
in  the  Carpathian. 

A  peasant's  cottage  in  the  Carpathian  region  is  easily 
built,  and  is  always  made  by  the  peasants  themselves. 
Each  newly-married  couple  has,  as  a  rule,  to  build  a 
cottage  of  their  own,  sometimes  before,  but  oftener  still 
after,  the  wedding,  in  which  case  the  young  pair  are 


208         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

still  housed  by  the  young  man's  parents  for  a  year  or  so, 
until  the  house  is  ready.  The  material  needed  for  the 
making  of  the  house  is  at  hand :  mud  and  wood  ;  in  the 
districts  richly  wooded  more  of  the  latter ;  in  the  districts 
where  wood  is  scanty,  more  of  the  former.  In  opposition 
to  the  general  idea  of  building,  the  roof  is  made  first,  the 
walls  afterwards.  To  begin  with,  four  big  pillars  are 
stuck  in  the  ground,  denoting  the  four  corners  of  the 
house ;  then  the  four  outer  walls  are  sketched  out,  as  well 
as  the  inside  partitions,  by  thinner  pillars  also  stuck  in 
the  ground,  running  along  from  comer  to  corner  at  a 
distance  of  one  or  two  feet  between  each.  Room  is  left 
for  the  doors,  and  the  pillars  are  cut  short  at  the  place  of 
the  windows.  The  house  being  so  outlined  with  trans- 
verse beams  fastened  to  the  upper  end  of  the  pillars,  the 
roof  is  made  of  a  wooden  frame,  covered  with  reed  and 
thatch,  or  with  timber  and  shingles,  or  in  better  circum- 
stances and  more  modern  cases,  with  iron  sheets.  Once 
the  roof  is  ready,  the  walls  are  built  up :  mud,  kneaded 
down  with  the  feet,  and  mixed  with  straw,  is  shaped  into 
clay-lumps,  taking  here  the  place  of  bricks.  These  clay- 
lumps  (vdldtuci)  are  set  tight  between  the  pillars  above 
one  another,  high  up  to  the  roof ;  the  rough  walls  thus 
ready  are  left  for  a  time  to  dry.  In  parts  where  wood  is 
more  plentiful,  the  walls  are  made  of  hurdles  plastered 
heavily  with  mud.  This  plastering,  as  well  as  the  building 
with  lumps,  is  generally  done  by  gipsies,  being  rather 
dirty  work  which  the  Roumanian  is  always  willing  to 
shun  if  he  can.  In  the  mountain  districts  the  houses 
are  made  entirely  of  wood,  the  w^alls  being  built  of  logs, 
roughly  hewn  and  straightened  into  beams,  fastened 
horizontally  one  over  the  other,  crossed  at  the  ends,  each 
fitting  into  a  suitable  notch,  permitting  the  logs  firmly  to 
join  one  another.  Such  a  wooden  framework  is  very 
much  like  one  of  those  Swiss  cottages  one  sees  in  every 
Swiss  village,  except  that  the  Swiss  cottage  is  bigger,  and 
that  the  smaller  Roumanian  cottage  is  never  left  thus  in 
its  bare  wooden  bones.  Yes,  one  may  come  across  such 
constructions,  high  up  in  the  remotest  glens,  but  these  are 
not  looked  upon  as  houses ;  such  a  cottage  is  only  called 


PEASANT  AT   HOME  AND   AT  WORK    209 

odaia  (room),  and  is  merely  meant  to  serve  as  a  refuge 
during  the  summer  work,  pasturing  or  haymaking,  in  the 
lofty  poiana ;  it  is  otherwise  not  inhabited,  and  is  entirely 
deserted  in  winter. 

When  the  rough  walls  are  ready  and  dry,  be  they  of 
wood  or  of  mud,  then  their  smoothing  and  refining  begins 
with  layers  of  clay,  mixed  with  cow-dung,  repeatedly 
stuck  on  them  by  hand  in  sheets  thinner  and  thinner, 
until  the  walls  are  quite  even  and  neat,  and  present  not 
the  slightest  chink  to  the  most  inquisitive  eye.  This 
work  is  also  left  as  much  as  possible  to  gipsy  women, 
who  seem  to  have  quite  an  industry  of  their  own  in  this 
not  over-respectable  business  of  the  lipit  (clay  plastering). 
The  plastering  is  done  on  the  out-  and  the  inside,  and  on 
the  floor  as  well.  Timber  floors  are  quite  a  new  invention, 
and  are  only  to  be  seen  in  newer  houses  and  richer 
households ;  otherwise  the  floor  is  made  of  clay,  by  the 
hand,  and  remade  every  Saturday  evening  by  every 
industrious  housewife,  with  an  overlayer  of  cow-dung 
mixed  with  black  clay  as  an  embellishment. 

For  one  year  the  newly  made  house  is  kept  in  its  clay 
colour,  to  dry  well,  even  though  it  must  be  occupied 
during  the  time ;  the  peasants  say  it  would  bring  ill-luck 
were  one  to  whitewash  it  before  the  year  is  out.  But 
after  the  year's  end  the  house  is  beautifully  whitewashed, 
in-  and  outside,  from  top  to  bottom — which  whitewashing 
is  hereafter  repeated  at  least  once  in  every  year,  before 
Easter,  by  every  Roumanian  peasant  wife.  After  the 
whitewashing  comes  the  painting  of  the  wood-work,  all 
about  the  house :  ceiling,  doors  and  door-posts,  window- 
frames,  casements  and  shutters,  everything  is  painted 
with  a  dark  reddish  clay  called  luti§or  (red  loess)  with 
carefully  straight  hues  at  the  edges.  Outside,  the  house 
is  invariably  surrounded  by  a  prispa,  a  narrow  terrace 
running  round  the  walls,  also  plastered  with  clay, 
trimmed  with  a  tiny  edge  of  red  clay,  a  briu  (a  band)  at 
its  upper  side,  where  it  meets  the  wall,  and  a  broader  one 
of  black  clay  at  the  bottom,  above  the  ground.  A 
Roumanian  peasant  woman  is  extremely  fond  of  these 
sharp  lines,  wherever  two  edges,  or  rather  two  colours, 

15 


210         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

meet,  and  young  girls  are  particularly  anxious  to  draw 
them  as  straight  as  possible — a  shaky  briu  would  look  so 
ridiculous,  they  say,  like  old  women's  teeth  !  The  prispa 
is  protected  by  the  jutting-out  roof  hanging  over  it,  lined 
underneath  with  a  span  of  ceiling  of  red-painted  timber, 
and  supported  on  wooden  pillars,  also  painted  with  red, 
at  the  edge  and  at  the  corners  of  the  prispa.  A  little 
wooden  staircase  or  one  or  two  steps  of  rough  stone  give 
access  to  the  prispa,  and  into  the  house. 

About  the  yard  there  are,  except  the  house,  as  many 
out-buildings  as  the  owner  can  afford.  Sometimes,  even, 
one  may  see  two  houses  in  the  yard,  one  newer,  larger, 
for  show,  for  guests,  where  the  good  things  are  kept — 
meant  to  become  eventually  the  son's  house — and  another 
older,  smaller,  for  everyday  use.  Then  there  may  be 
a  small  summer  kitchen  as  well,  painted  in  grey  clay, 
as  limestone  would  be  considered  much  too  expensive 
a  material  to  waste  on  such  a  humble  building,  although 
the  usual  summer  kitchen  might  just  as  well  be  in  the 
open  air  :  a  hole  in  some  corner  of  the  yard,  with  an 
appropriate  contrivance  for  suspending  the  ciaun  (a  kettle 
in  which  the  mamaliga  is  made) .  Next  come  the  wooden 
constructions :  a  barn,  stables  (if  there  are  horses,  which 
is  rather  rare),  a  shade  or  hovel  for  the  cattle  (which, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  generally  sorely  neglected  in  the 
way  of  lodging,  the  Roumanian  peasant  seeming  to  think 
that  cows  or  oxen  can  do  quite  well  out  in  the  roughest 
weather,  if  they  only  have  plenty  to  eat)  ;  a  pig-sty  and 
a  hen-coop  are  quite  common  in  a  peasant's  yard,  but 
a  co§dr — that  is,  a  hurdle  construction  to  keep  maize  in 
— is  only  to  be  found  in  well-to-do  households.  The  yard 
itself  will  be  more  or  less  clean,  according  to  the  season 
and  the  individual  taste  of  the  masters  of  the  house ; 
not  over-clean,  I  may  say,  as  a  rule:  "A  little  dirt 
brings  luck  to  a  man's  house."  Behind  the  house,  the 
garden  with  vegetables  and  fruit-trees,  and  some  flower- 
beds, especially  where  the  housewife  is  young,  or  where 
there  are  young  girls ;  in  the  poorest  garden  there  must 
be  at  least  two  or  three  clusters  of  busioc  (sweet-basil), 
of  minta  (mint),  and  of  some  velvety  dark  yellow  vizdoage 
(gilliflowers). 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    211 

As  to  the  interior  of  the  cottage,  if  we  now  wish  to 
step  in,  first  of  all  we  must  not  forget  to  stoop  a  little, 
as  the  lintel  is  rather  low ;  the  master  of  the  house  can 
hardly  ever  pass  a  door  about  his  house  without  stooping, 
and  he,  I  am  afraid,  could  hardly  imagine,  without  a 
shiver,  spending  a  winter  in  a  house  where  one  could  walk 
upright  "as  in  a  barn !  "  The  door  of  the  cottage  is 
hardly  ever  locked,  except  with  a  wooden  latch  whose 
hook  fastens  at  the  inside  to  the  door-post.  Doors  are 
rarely  locked  in  peasants'  cottages ;  a  bolt  on  the  inside 
for  the  night,  that  is  all.  Padlocks  are  used  by  rich 
people  only,  who  possess  valuables  to  put  under  lock  and 
key,  but  the  average  peasant,  when  he  goes  away  from 
home,  and  has  no  child  to  leave  behind  to  take  care 
of  it,  simply  takes  a  stick  and  leans  it  against  the  door ; 
by  this  the  visitor  recognises  that  there  is  nobody  at 
home  and  that  he  has  no  business  to  enter.  In  villages 
where  many  padlocks  are  to  be  seen,  the  moral  atmo- 
sphere as  to  respect  for  property  seems  to  be  some- 
what dubious,  although  they  will  readily  tell  you :  "  The 
padlock  is  for  honest  people  "  {Lacata  e  pentru  oameni 
cinstiti).  At  all  events,  padlocks  are  a  much  cheaper 
commodity  now  than  they  used  to  be. 

As  we  enter  the  peasant's  house,  the  first  space  we  are 
admitted  into  is  the  tinda  (the  ante-room),  a  plain,  scantily 
furnished  place,  in  which  the  most  conspicuous  thing  is 
a  big  oven  (cuptor),  with  a  hearth  (vatra),  in  front,  on 
which,  at  least  in  winter,  a  perpetual  fire  is  smouldering ; 
a  little  brick  stool  beside  it  is  built  part  and  parcel  of 
the  wall,  and  is  considered  as  the  place  of  honour  in 
the  most  modest  tinda.  In  the  corner  behind  the  door 
there  is  sure  to  be  a  rd§nitay  a  very  primitive  hand- 
mill,  in  which  maize  is  ground  when  needed  quickly,  or 
if  there  has  been  any  impediment  in  sending  to  the  mill. 
Besides,  we  may  see  in  this  tinda  labour  and  house 
implements,  as  well  as  provisions  of  maize,  corn,  &c., 
in  bags,  standing  along  the  wall  or  in  wooden  boxes ; 
then  a  wooden  bench,  a  table,  and  suchlike.  This  tinda 
in  most  cases  has  no  ceiling,  but  is  quite  open  to  the 
black  smoked  reedy  roof ;  often,  at  the  back  of  the  tinda. 


212         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

there  is  a  small  pantry,  a  camard  or  celara§,  as  they  call 
it,  where  the  provisions  are  stored  up. 

From  the  ante-room  we  pass  into  the  principal  room, 
the  casa,  par  excellence,  kept  as  tidy  and  presentable  as 
possible,  the  wear  and  tear  of  everyday  life  going  on 
chiefly  in  the  ante-room.  Not  very  light,  the  windows 
being  rather  small  with  their  little  glass  panes  in  the 
cross-like  wooden  sashes,  which  generally  open  like 
Enghsh  windows,  the  two  halves  sliding  vertically  over 
one  another.  The  house  windows  have  their  legend  too. 
The  first  house  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  devil, 
only  he  did  not  know  how  to  light  it,  and  tried  hard 
to  carry  light  in  a  bushel.  God,  passing  by,  came  to 
the  rescue  by  making  the  windows,  but  then  He  put  the 
cross  in  the  middle  of  the  window — the  wooden  casement 
— and  ever  since  the  devil  has  had  to  give  it  up  and  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  a  man's  house.  The  windows 
are,  moreover,  furnished  with  curtains,  and  often  adorned 
with  flower-pots  on  the  vdndow-sill.  The  furniture  of 
this  room  is  of  two  kinds.  First  and  foremost,  a  big 
oven  with  a  large  hearth  in  front,  surmounted  by  a  large 
chimney  to  let  out  the  smoke,  just  like  the  one  in  the 
ante-room,  only  kept  in  a  much  more  brilliant  condition 
of  cleanliness  and  ornamentation.  The  back  of  the  oven 
is  in  winter  the  most  desirable  bed,  and  the  oldest  couple 
of  the  household  usually  take  their  rest  upon  it.  From 
the  oven  a  large  bed  (pat) ,  made  of  planks,  stretches  to  the 
opposite  wall,  covered  with  various  home-made  woollen 
mats  or  suchlike,  and  at  the  end  of  it  is  placed  a  wooden 
box  (lada)  containing  the  linen  and  other  precious  belong- 
ings of  the  family.  On  the  top  of  this  box  lies  the 
zestrea,  the  outfit,  the  trousseau,  composed  of  carpets, 
coverlets,  blankets,  pillows,  piled  up  to  the  ceiling.  From 
the  bed  {laife)  wooden  benches  run  along  the  walls  all 
round  the  room,  covered  also  with  Idicere  (long,  narrow 
woollen  carpets),  which  serve  as  beds  for  the  younger 
members  of  the  family.  The  second  type  of  house  is 
without  an  oven,  but  has  a  good  stove  in  one  comer; 
then  two  large  beds  set  opposite  one  another  in  the  two 
further  corners  of  the  room,  with  additional  lai^e  at  their 


PEASANT  AT  HOME   AND   AT  WORK    213 

feet,  down  to  the  end  of  the  wall.  Between  the  beds, 
under  the  window,  there  will  be  a  table,  and  in  richer 
houses  two  or  three  wooden  chairs.  In  some  corner,  on 
the  wall  and  towards  the  East  are  hung  the  icoane  (the 
holy  images),  often  adorned  with  the  housewife's  bridal 
ornaments,  and  in  front  of  them,  hanging  from  above, 
a  candela,  a  little  lamp  with  olive  oil  and  a  floating  wick, 
giving  a  light  not  bigger  than  a  lentil;  the  candela  is 
always  lit  on  Sunday  and  holiday  eves.  Besides,  the 
walls  are  ornamented  with  fine  tissues,  hanging  like 
large  draperies,  or  small  kerchiefs  with  pretty  designs, 
knotted  and  fixed  with  a  nail,  from  which  hangs  some 
pretty,  glossy  earthen  plate  or  jug ;  above  the  beds 
woollen  carpets  are  usually  hung,  and  then  at  random 
occasional  pictures,  representing  some  emperor,  prince 
or  general,  bought  from  packmen  roaming  about  the 
country,  very  often  from  Russian  iconari,  who,  by  selling 
their  holy  images,  are  trying  some  secret  but  scarcely 
novel  propaganda,  with  a  view  to  Russian  interests.  On 
the  wall  will  be  fixed  a  long  ledge,  laden  with  the  best 
plate  of  the  family  ;  sometimes  this  is  contained  in  a  real 
cupboard,  more  or  less  elaborately  carved  in  wood.  Over 
the  big  bed  we  may  also  often  see  a  transversal  beam 
below  the  ceiling,  on  which  are  hung  all  the  family  clothes, 
neatly  covered  over  by  some  beautifully  spun  counterpane. 

In  such  an  abode  goes  on  a  peasant's  humble,  un- 
assuming life,  with  all  its  tragedies  and  sorrow,  with  all 
its  joy  and  happiness.  Or  rather,  the  peasant  considers 
the  house  as  a  nice  little  thing,  to  be  spared  and  kept  as 
clean  as  possible,  but  to  be  used  only  in  case  of  necessity. 
In  winter  and  bad  weather  he  sleeps  in  the  house,  but  all 
the  summer  he  will  take  his  rest  out  of  doors,  partly  oix 
the  prispa,  partly  in  the  car  (cart) ,  standing  ready  inTfront 
of  the  house  as  if  for  an  early  journey  on  the  i3^orrow,  and 
well  furnished  with  thick  sheets  of  hemp,  the  toale  ;  out 
of  doors,  under  God's  sky,  watched\ov<fer  by  the  stars  or 
lighted  by  the  sun,  does  the  Roumanian  peasant  spend 
his  life,  be  it  at  work  or  at  rest. 

It  is  really  seldom  that  a  peasant  will  be  at  home  on 
a  week  day  during  labour  time ;  all  his  life  is  spent  out 


214         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

in  the  open,  in  the  free  air,  either  as  shepherd,  which 
in  times  of  trial  has  been  his  chief  occupation,  or  as 
husbandman,  which  is  by  far  the  chief  occupation  of  the 
Roumanians  :  the  only  one  in  the  plains. 


II 

When  history  dawns  upon  the  Roumanians,  between 
the  heavy  clouds  of  barbaric  invasions,  they  appear  in  full 
pastoral  life  ;  from  Carpathian  to  Pindus,  all  the  elevated 
poianas  are  theirs  ;  all  over  them  they  drive  their  flocks, 
live  on  their  milk  and  flesh,  dress  in  their  wool.  Not 
that  agriculture  is  entirely  forsaken — to  plough  (a  ara), 
to  sow  {a  sdmdna),  to  reap  (a  sdcera)  are  all  Latin  words — 
it  is  not  forsaken,  but  is  only  followed  as  a  secondary 
pursuit. 

The  remembrance  of  his  pastoral  life  the  Roumanian 
peasant  has  immortalised  in  the  beautiful  pastoral  legend 
of  the  Miorita  (the  **  She-lamb")  in  which  it  is  told  that 
three  shepherds  were  pasturing  their  flocks  about  "the 
foot  of  a  ridge,  the  gate  of  a  paradise,"  but  two  of  them, 
jealous  of  the  third,  made  a  compact  to  murder  him. 
But  they  were  overheard  by  the  miorita,  the  little 
young  ewe,  who  was  a  seer,  and  who  for  very  sorrow  lost 
her  appetite  and  gaiety.  When  her  master,  with  deep 
concern,  asked  her  about  her  ailment,  she  disclosed  her 
dreadful  secret,  with  entreaties  to  him  to  take  care  of 
himself  ;  but  he  seemed  to  accept  his  fate;  he  cheered  her 
up,  and  only  begged  her,  if  indeed  he  were  to  be  killed,  to 
tell  the  murderers  to  bury  him  there  behind  the  fold,  that 
he  might  hear  his  dogs ;  and  she  should  put  his  whistle 
at  his  head,  that  the  wind  passing  through  it  might  play  a 
tune,  upon  which  the  ewes  assembling,  all  would  lament 
him  with  "  blood  tears  "  ;  and  not  to  tell  the  ewes  about 
the  murder,  but  only  that  he  had  married  a  "fair  princess, 
the  world's  bride"  (death)  ;  that  at  his  wedding,  "  a  star 
has  fallen,"  that  the  sun  and  the  moon  held  his  crown, 
that  trees,  mountains,  birds  were  his  bridal  train,  and 
stars  his  shining  tapers.     But  if  she  happened  to  meet  his 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    215 

old  mother,  asking  for  a  fair  young  shepherd,  she  should 
pity  her,  and  tell  her  that  he  had  married  a  king's 
daughter,  in  a  beautiful  place,  but  nothing  about  the  sun 
and  moon  and  mountains,  birds  and  stars  being  the  bridal 
party,  as  the  good  old  woman  would  not  be  deceived  by 
that. 

In  the  Bucegi  Group  there  is  a  summit  called  Virful 
cu  dor,  **the  Peak  of  the  yearning,"  about  which  the 
legend  goes  that  a  young  shepherd  died  there  of  a  broken 
heart  for  the  sake  of  his  ewes,  which  he  had  deserted  for 
a  woman. 

Another  legend  says  that  the  very  thistle  is  nothing  but 
a  yearning  shepherd  turned  into  a  thistle  by  God  at  his 
own  prayer,  that  he  might  ever  stick  to  ewes  who  had 
fled  away  from  him,  because  he  had  betrayed  them  for  a 
girl.  On  the  Steiasa,  a  large  solitary  grassy  mountain  in 
Valachia,  a  lonely  wooden  cross  stands  on  a  mound ;  as 
I  was  passing  by  last  year,  the  guide  told  me  a  shepherd 
was  buried  there ;  he  had  been  killed  by  another  shepherd 
whose  ewes  he  had  beaten  ! 

The  shepherd's  life  is  very  solitary  even  to-day,  all  the 
summer  spent  on  the  high  poianas ;  on  a  Sunday  they 
come  down  into  the  villages,  taking  it  in  turns  at  the 
Sunday  dance  ;  they  are  easily  recognisable  by  their  shirts 
and  trousers,  which,  although  of  the  same  cut  as  the  other 
peasants',  differ  in  colour,  being  of  a  brownish  tinge  and 
looking  rather  dirty,  although  perfectly  clean  in  their  way, 
because  they  are  washed  in  whey,  said  to  keep  away  any 
sort  of  parasite.  On  his  heights,  the  shepherd  is  a  dreamy 
sort  of  man,  often  leaning  on  his  elbow  and  playing  to 
himself  and  his  grazing  ewes,  on  his  bucium  or  on  his 
finer,  now  a  gay  dancing  tune,  and  now  the  sorrowful, 
wailing  do'ina.  The  dogs  around  keep  good  watch — so 
good,  indeed,  that  you  can  hardly  approach  within  a  mile 
but  they  are  upon  you,  quite  determined  to  tear  you  to 
pieces  if  there  are  no  good  strong  sticks  to  strike  hard  in 
your  defence.  At  the  fold  the  shepherds  are  very 
amiable,  and  will  treat  you  to  milk  and  cheese  and  urda 
(a  sweet  cheese)  and  jdntita  (a  juicy  mixture  of  curdled 
milk)  and  excellent  new  ca§  (fresh  cheese) .    Now,  Eou- 


216         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

manian  hospitality  is  traditional,  but,  I  believe,  it  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  an  antiquated  tradition.  It 
seems  that  the  desire  for  gain  is  spreading  from  town  to 
country,  as  times  become  harder,  or  rather  more  material- 
istic and  business-like,  for  it  would  be  hardly  true  to  say 
that  times  are  harder  now  than  they  used  to  be.  Besides, 
it  seems  that  all  regions  are  not  alike  as  to  the  spirit  of 
hospitality :  I  have  come  across  sheepfolds  high  up  in  the 
Moldavian  Carpathians  where  shepherds  would  accept  in 
return  for  the  hospitality  offered  nothing  but  some  tobacco, 
so  hard  to  get,  they  explained,  on  those  heights ;  I  have 
again  come  across  sheepfolds  in  the  Carpathians  of 
Valachia  where  mocani,  or  Transylvanian  shepherds, 
eagerly  pocketed  the  money  offered  them.  As  far  as  the 
villages  go,  my  own  impression  is  that  Moldavian  peasants 
are  much  more  hospitable  than  the  Valachians.  But, 
after  all,  I  do  not  see  why  the  poor  peasant,  too,  should 
not  try  to  get  something  from  tha  traveller,  already  used 
to  being  so  nicely  fleeced  in  towns  ! 

Besides  sheep,  cattle  breeding  has  been  a  staple  busi- 
ness of  the  Roumanians ;  in  the  Free  Kingdom  it  was  so 
down  to  the  middle  of  last  century.  The  Moldavian  oxen 
had  a  widespread  renown ;  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  as  the  prince- writer  Demetrius  Cantemir  tells  us, 
they  were  exported  by  many  thousands  every  year,  and  a 
good  bargain  for  the  dealers  they  were  too,  being  bought 
in  Moldavia  for  three  and  five  thalers  apiece  and  sold  in 
Danzig  at  the  rate  of  forty  and  fifty  thalers.  The  bovine 
race  is  found  to  be  much  degenerated  at  the  present  day. 
Again,  Moldavian  horses  were  reputed  a  noble  race — that 
nobility,  too,  is  degenerated  to-day.  Even  the  pigs  are 
said  to  be  much  more  neglected  animals  now  than  of  old. 

All  this  shows  that  the  golden  times  of  quiet,  peaceful 
pastoral  life  have  gone  by,  and  that  agriculture  is  quickly 
taking  its  place,  stepping  from  the  second  rank  it  occu- 
pied of  old  into  the  first  and  foremost ;  that  with  the 
new  openings  of  larger  markets  abroad  for  Roumanian 
agricultural  produce — through  the  improved  political 
conditions  since  the  Treaty  of  Paris — agriculture  has 
largely  increased,  encroaching  on  pastoral  pursuits,  and 


Ploughing, 


\_Fhofo,  J.  Cazaban. 


To  face  page  217- 


A  Cattle  Fair. 


IPhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


11  UNIVL/^SJTY  ] 

PEASANT  AT  HbME  ANt)   AT  WORK    217 

subjecting  them  to  her  own  wants.  But  there  is  room 
for  improving  pastoral  life,  too,  certainly  cattle  breeding, 
as  up  to  now,  in  the  Free  Kingdom  at  least,  all  pastures 
are  only  natural,  producing  some  1,800  kgr.  hay  to 
the  hectare ;  turned  into  artificial  pastures  they  could 
fairly  produce  double  at  least.  Even  in  the  Pindus, 
where  the  Roumanian  is  still  chiefly  a  sheep  and  cattle 
breeder,  he  feels  more  and  more  obliged  to  take  to 
agriculture — to  settle  down  in  the  plains,  which  he 
abhors,  and  forsake  the  mountains  he  dearly  loves. 

By  far  the  most  widely  spread  occupation  of  the 
Roumanian  people  is  agriculture,  which  they  almost 
consider  as  the  only  work,  and  are  so  fond  of  that  they 
would  give  it  up  only  to  become  a  boiar,  to  live 
without  working  ! 

The  real  life  of  the  peasant  begins  with  the  coming 
in  of  spring.  In  March,  after  the  snow  is  gone,  the 
house  is  little  by  little  deserted,  and  outdoor  life  takes 
more  and  more  hold  of  the  Roumanian  peasant.  The 
first  care  of  the  Roumanian  girl,  on  a  1st  of  March 
morning,  is  to  take  a  red  and  a  white  thread,  to  twist 
them  together  to  make  a  Mdrfisor,  and  with  a  small 
coin  suspended  to  it,  wear  it  round  the  neck  until  the 
appearance  of  the  first  blossom — this  in  order  to  preserve 
a  fair  white  and  pink  complexion  ! 

Indeed,  spring  is  not  always  as  beautiful  a  season 
as  the  name  would  imply ;  it  is  rather  a  trying,  change- 
able time,  with  extreme  variations  of  cold  and  warmth, 
of  wet  and  dry,  and,  above  all,  with  a  raging,  scorching 
wind,  especially  trying  on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the 
Carpathians,  where  it  comes  full  blast  from  north  and 
north-east,  to  meet  with  no  hindrance  whatever, 
especially  since  the  forests  have  been  so  indiscriminately 
hewn  down.  Although  March  means  the  beginning 
of  spring — the  more  so  for  Eastern  Europe,  where  the 
calendar  is  thirteen  days  behind  the  calendar  of  Western 
Europe — yet  it  is  not  rare  to  see  in  March  drifts  of 
snow  yards  deep — to  melt  away  in  foam  at  the  first 
sunbeams,  no  doubt, — but  still,  half  of  the  month  at 
least  goes  in  sleet  and  rain  and  gales,  with  intermezzos 


218         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

of  fine  days  or  at  least  fine  hours.  The  first  nine  days 
of  March  are  called  the  zilele  babei  {"the  old  woman's 
days  ")  or  simply  Bahele  (the  old  woman),  and  popular 
fancy  has  invented  various  legends  to  explain  these 
sudden  changes  of  weather.  One  of  the  legends  runs 
as  follows  :  The  sun  had  been  entrusted  by  God  with  the 
care  of  lighting  up  the  earth,  but,  weary  of  all  the 
wrongs  and  evils  he  has  daily  to  witness,  tries  to  run 
away;  that  is  why  the  place  of  his  rising  is  shifted 
regularly  to  the  right  in  spring,  to  the  left  in  autumn — 
change  produced  as  is  known  by  the  translatory  move- 
ment of  the  earth — and,  if  he  ever  succeeds  in  rising 
where  he  now  sets,  then  the  earth  will  come  to  an  end ; 
and  that  is  exactly  what  the  sun  is  endeavouring  to  bring 
about,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  earth,  and  have  all  the 
sky  to  himself  to  rest  in.  But  that  is  not  the  will  of 
God,  and,  to  prevent  the  possible  misfortune,  he  has  set 
two  saints,  St.  Nicora  in  the  north,  St.  Theodor  in  the 
south,  to  stop  the  sun  in  its  attempts  to  flee.  In 
spring  the  sun  takes  to  flight  southwards,  on  a  carriage 
with  nine  horses,  with  nine  old  women  on  them  to  incite 
them  to  a  fast  race ;  these  old  women  produce  by  witch- 
craft snow  and  rain  and  the  worst  possible  weather  to 
hinder  St.  Theodor's  pursuit,  but  it  is  all  to  no  avail : 
after  a  terrible  race,  the  sun  is  overtaken,  and  brought 
back  to  its  place. 

Another  legend,  built  up  on  the  ancient  theme  of 
the  dislike  between  mother  and  daughter-in-law,  says 
that  after  one  of  the  usual  quarrels,  the  wicked  old 
mother-in-law,  thinking  that  spring  has  come  because 
she  has  seen  the  sun,  puts  on  nine  sheepskins  and  drives 
up  to  the  mountain  her  flock  of  sheep.  Tired  and 
heated,  she  takes  off  her  nine  sheepskins  one  by  one, 
but  sleet  and  snowstorm  came  down  unexpectedly  and 
she  is  frozen  to  death.  Other  legends,  again,  are  the 
outcome  of  a  confusion  between  this  last  and  the 
historical  legend  of  Dohia,  alluded  to  in  the  first  chapter, 
so  one  may  occasionally  hear  that  the  first  nine  days  of 
March  are  the  days  of  "  Baba  Dokia."  The  first  part 
of  March  being  thus  generally  made  up  of  very   bad 


PEASANT  AT  HOME   AND  AT  WORK    219 

weather,  it  is  considered  great  luck  if  one  day  happens 
to  be  fine,  and  the  true  grand-child  of  old  Eome,  always 
on  the  look-out  for  omens,  has  imagined  here  one  more 
way  of  foretelling  one's  luck  for  the  year  to  come.  One 
chooses  beforehand  one  day  among  the  nine — some 
chose  only  one  hour — and  if  it  happens  to  turn  out 
fine,  then  luck  is  at  hand ;  if  the  reverse  happens,  there 
is  not  much  luck  to  be  expected  during  the  year. 

After  the  nine  baba's  days,  the  three  next  one's  are 
the  "days  of  the  stork"  {zilele  cocostircului) ,  it  being  the 
time  about  which  the  storks  come  back  from  their 
winter  tour,  to  build  their  nests  on  the  top  of  the 
peasants'  cottages.  If  the  first  group  of  storks  one  sees 
are  in  pairs,  it  is  a  good  omen.  Girls  are  particularly 
anxious  to  see  just  two  storks,  which  sight  means  a 
marriage  in  the  same  year.  The  stork  is  a  great 
favourite  with  peasants;  his  very  nest  on  a  cottage 
is  a  good  omen  :  everything  will  prosper  in  that  house. 
But  woe  to  him  who  kills  a  stork  !  It  is  considered 
a  great  sin,  and  sure  to  be  punished  sooner  or  later ;  just 
as  great  a  sin  is  it  to  pull  down  a  stork's  nest.  There 
is  a  rather  mysterious  punishment  that  might  come  in 
more  than  one  way,  when  least  expected,  as  blows  of  fate 
always  do,  but  then  the  stork  may  take  his  own  revenge. 
He  will  fly  until  he  finds  some  fire,  then  he  will  pick 
a  brand  in  his  bill  and  bring  it  to  his  enemy's  house. 
There  are  several  legends  about  the  stork's  origin,  just  as 
there  are  about  every  bird  living  in  these  regions. 

The  next  three  or  six  days  after  those  of  the  stork, 
are  the  **  days  of  the  thrush  "  {zilele  sturzului — sturz 
from  turdus),  which  bird  is  also  considered  as  a  weather 
foreteller,  a  spring's  harbinger.  A  fine  legend  gives  a 
dialogue  between  this  bird  and  his  beloved  blackbird, 
who  most  energetically  declines  all  his  offers  of  love,  at 
which  the  broken-hearted  thrush  goes  into  mourning, 
turns  monk  and  retires  into  the  depths  of  the  mountains. 
The  thrush  is  said  to  have  been  of  old  a  very  proud  bird, 
believing  that  the  summer  was  absolutely  his  making. 
Once  upon  a  time,  the  legend  says,  in  long  past  ages, 
when   God  used  to  walk  about  on  earth,  in  company 


220         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

of  His  faithful  St.  Peter,  they  happened  to  pass  on 
a  bright  March  morning  by  a  large  forest.  A  thrush 
was  just  perched  on  a  tree,  and  swinging  gracefully  on  his 
twig,  was  pouring  forth  one  of  his  most  joyous  tunes. 

"  '  Good-morning,  thrush  !  '  St.  Peter  said. 

"  *  I  have  no  time  to  answer !  '  said  the  thrush. 

** '  And  why,  if  you  please  ?  ' 

"  '  Oh,  I  am  busy  with  the  making  of  the  summer ! '  " 
And  went  on  singing — 

"To-day  I  will  wed, 
To-morrow  a  brother  of  mine  ! "  * 

The  holy  travellers  walked  on.  In  the  afternoon, 
however,  God  sent  down  a  fearful  rain,  and  during  the 
night  snow  and  frost  as  well,  just  as  in  the  heart 
of  winter.  Next  morning,  as  they  were  passing  that 
very  same  way,  the  Almighty  and  His  fellow-traveller 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  conceited  one  humbled. 
The  poor  thrush  was  hanging  on  a  twig,  humiliated  and 
benumbed  with  frost. 

"  '  Good  morning,  thrush  !' 

"'Thank  you!  ' 

**  *  What  are  you  doing  there  ?  " 

"  '  Ah,  to-day  I  shall  die,  to-morrow  a  brother  of 
mine!  ' " 

Ever  since  the  thrush  has  become  a  very  modest  and 
thoughtful  bird ;  she  never  more  boasts  of  making 
the  summer,  but  continuously  sings  : — 

"  Trousers  and  sandals, 
For  to-morrow  it  snows  ; 
Long  linen  trousers 
And  sandals  of  leaves 
To  go  to  the  beloved ! "  f 

*  "  Azi  ma  insor  eu, 

Mane-un  frate-al  meu  !  " 

f  "  Cioareci  §i  opinci 
Ca  de  mane  ninge ; 
Cioareci  lungi  de  pfi-nza 
Si  opinci  de  frunza 
De  mers  la  dragu^al" 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    221 

But  by  far  the  chief  messenger  of  spring  is  the  cuckoo 
{cucul).  The  Roumanian  peasant,  ever  anxious  to 
penetrate  the  enigmatic  future,  has  a  deep  beHef  in  the 
singing  of  the  cuckoo,  which  he  takes  as  a  good  or  bad 
omen,  according  to  the  direction  it  comes  from.  Mi-a 
cintat  cucu'nfatd ! — ''  The  cuckoo  has  sung  to  me  in  my 
face,"  is  the  very  best  tidings  a  man  can  bring  for  himself 
after  a  spring  day's  labour ;  also  the  singing  "  from  the 
right  hand  "  {din  dreapta)  is  apt  to  fill  with  delight  and 
hope  any  peasant's  heart,  young  or  old,  whilst  the  singing 
of  the  cuckoo  heard  from  behind,  or  from  the  left,  is  a 
very  bad  omen.  Neither  must  you  run  the  chance  of 
hearing  the  cuckoo  before  eating,  for  then  the  year  will 
be  a  poor  one  for  you.  But  with  all  the  anxiety  as  to 
which  side  the  cuckoo's  singing  may  come  from,  the 
Roumanian  peasant  is  nevertheless  fond  of  that  bird's 
song : — 

"  Whjen  I  hear  the  cuckoo  singing 
And  the  Httle  blackbird  whistling 
I  don't  feel  man  upon  earth, 
Neither  know  I  where  I  am."  ^' 

And  he  is  particularly  anxious  to  hear  it  every  spring : — 

"  Sing,  cuckoo,  to  me  alone  : 
Till  next  spring  who  can  tell 
Whether  I  shall  live  or  die: 
Man  is  but  a  transient  dream  1 "  f 

And  many  are  the  popular  songs  about  this  bird,  which  is 
decidedly  more  listened  to  than  the  nightingale  herself. 
And  the  twig  on  which  the  cuckoo  has  sung  has  a  peculiar 
power  too  ;  you  just  take  a  spray  of  it  and  wear  it  in  your 


Unde-aud  cucul  cintind 
^i  mierli^a  §uerand 
Nu  ma  ^in  om  pe  pamant 
Nici  nu  ma  §tiu  unde  s^nt." 

'  Cinta-mi  cuce  numai  mie  : 
Pan'  la  anul  cine  ^tie 
De  traiesc  ori  daca  mor; 
Omul  e  vis  trecator !  " 


222         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

girdle,  and  people  will  listen  to  you  as  to  the  cuckoo's 
song. 

Neither  is  it  difficult  to  hear  the  cuckoo  sing :  the 
smallest  grove,  the  thinnest  cluster  of  bushes,  is  sure  to 
be  visited  by  this  prophetic  bird.  It  sings  all  the  spring, 
up  to  the  time  when  cherries  are  ripe  in  June ;  to  be 
then  silenced  till  next  spring.  "  The  cuckoo  has  eaten 
cherries"  is  said  of  a  singer  who  has  lost  his  or  her 
voice.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  considered  as  a  very  well- 
balanced  bird  in  its  little  winged  mind :  **  A  cuckoo's 
head  "  is  said  of  a  silly,  thoughtless  person.  Again,  *'  He 
is  a  cuckoo  "  is  said  of  a  tipsy  man.  Several  legends  are 
told  about  the  cuckoo,  too,  all  supposing  it  to  have  been 
a  man  once,  as,  indeed,  most  of  the  legends  about  birds 
or  animals  tend  to  show. 

At  the  first  sound  of  the  cuckoo's  song  the  Roumanian 
peasant  will  yoke  his  oxen  to  the  plough  and  ploughing 
begins,  and  with  it  the  long  and  tiring  labour  for  one 
hundred  and  forty  days,  the  length  of  the  labour  time. 

In  summer  the  peasant  sleeps  exceedingly  little,  and  is 
always  up  before  dawn.  Time-piece  he  has  none;  his 
clock  is  the  cock  in  the  yard.  The  cock  gives  his  first 
sleepy  crow  on  the  stroke  of  midnight.  The  moment  the 
cock  crows  is  the  beginning  of  the  first  morning  hour,  the 
cdntdtori  (from  cdntare,  to  sing);  the  crowing  of  the 
cock  is  singing  to  the  Roumanian  ear — to  the  Latin  ear 
in  general  also,  it  seems.  The  cock  then  crows  about 
every  hour  in  succession,  but  louder  and  livelier  as  time 
advances  and  he  is  himself  more  awake. 

The  mdnecate  (from  mane)  is  the  moment  when  the 
busy  peasant  gets  up,  especially  if  he  has  some  pressing 
business  on  hand,  a  journey,  for  instance,  or  if  his  piece 
of  land  is  rather  far.  The  third  hour  is  the  zori  (the 
dawn)  when  baby  day  and  old  decayed  night  "  are  stam- 
mering at  each  other  "  (  se  ingdnd  ziua  cu  noapted).  Now 
the  cock's  part  is  done,  he  may  crow  for  his  own  plea- 
sure or  for  his  hens'  gratification ;  henceforth  the  time 
regulator  for  man  is  "  the  holy  sun." 

The  peasant  gets  up  :  there  is  not  much  dressing,  as 
there  has  been  but  little  undressing  ;  he  washes  his  face 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    223 

with  cold  water  and  wipes  it  with  a  home-spun  towel,  or, 
failing  this,  with  his  ample  sleeve  ;  makes  the  sign  of  the 
cross  towards  sunrise,  and  the  fourth  hour  of  the  day  will 
find  him  on  his  way,  in  good  time,  or  at  his  work.  "When 
the  sun  is  pretty  high  above  the  horizon,  "  three  spears 
high,"  the  hour  is  called  the prdnzi§orul  {ivomprandium) ; 
it  is  the  hour  of  the  small  dinner  or  breakfast.  At  mid-day 
comes  the  prdnzul  (the  dinner),  followed  by  a  siesta. 
Towards  four  o'clock  is  the  kindia,  the  time  of  the  toaka 
at  church  (vespers).  After  sunset  (the  apus),  comes  the 
amurg  (dusk) ;  then,  after  nightfall  and  supper,  the  straja 
a  treia,  "  the  third  sentry  "  (bed-time). 

The  sleep  of  the  peasant,  if  short,  is  sound,  one  may  well 
assume,  he  being  always  so  dead-tired,  otherwise  he  could 
hardly  sleep  a  wink  with  the  swarm  of  parasites  that  are 
filling  house  and  yard  all  through  the  summer.  "It  is 
from  the  cattle,"  they  say;  neither  do  they  seem  inclined 
to  think  that  so  much  ado  should  be  made  about  such 
small  insects :  when  one  has  some  leisure  one  hunts 
them  ;  otherwise,  one  lets  them  alone.  But  **  who  on 
earth  has  ever  seen  a  summer  without  fleas  !  "  A  summer 
without  fleas  is  an  incredible  fiction.  The  general  view 
of  the  thing  seems  rather  to  be  that  only  dead  bodies  can 
be  without  parasites  of  some  sort  or  other;  fleas  seem  to 
be  an  unavoidable  evil  of  summer  life.  In  my  rambles 
about  the  country  I  had  often  the  opportunity  to  spend 
the  night  in  peasant  houses — fine  houses,  exceedingly 
clean  houses,  in  which  nobody  ever  slept,  in  beds  made 
up  with  quite  new  blankets  taken  out  from  the  pile  of  the 
zestrea,  yet  I  could  hardly  shut  my  eyes  for  fleas.  More 
than  that :  I  have  been  sitting  down  in  the  forest  under 
trees  I  had  soon  to  run  away  from,  because  of  hosts  of 
fleas !  There  is  flea-producing  wood,  I  have  been  told. 
In  mountainous  districts  it  is  even  worse,  as  far  as  indoor- 
sleeping  goes ;  few  fleas  truly,  but,  in  return,  no  end  of 
nasty  stinking,  creeping  bugs,  produced  by  the  pine- wood 
of  which  the  houses  are  made.  They  can  be  destroyed, 
no  doubt,  but  this  requires  such  an  amount  of  time,  such 
minute  cleanliness,  such  repeated  effort,  that  a  peasant 
housewife  can  hardly  afford  to  do  anything  else  than  just 


224         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

let  them  be.  Winter  will  keep  them  qmet.  No  traveller 
should  ever  venture  on  a  Carpathian  or  Pindus  tour 
without  a  large  supply  of  insect  powder,  and,  moreover, 
should  never  let  himself  be  tempted  into  neglect  by  the 
utterly  misplaced  belief  that,  in  hotels,  at  least,  the 
servants  might  have  time  enough  at  their  disposal  to 
ensure  that  which  the  too  busy  peasant  wife  cannot,  a 
flealess  couch  for  the  night ! 

But  the  peasant  sleeps  soundly ;  in  the  open  in 
summer,  or  indoors  in  winter,  he  has  made  the  sign  of 
the  cross  on  his  pillow,  stuck  his  fist  under  it,  and  will 
not  awake  before  cock-crow,  lulled  by  the  never-failing 
symphony  of  dog-barking  and  lowing  of  cattle  in 
one  or  another  yard,  under  the  brilliant  light  of  the 
moon. 

The  night  is  uncanny  to  the  peasant's  mind.  "  Mid- 
night "  is  for  him  a  real  being;  the  devil  under  all  sorts 
of  shapes  is  abroad  doing  mischief,  but  the  first  cock- 
crow will  disperse  all  that :  the  morning  is  announced, 
it  is  near  at  hand,  and  everything  fearing  daylight  dis- 
appears and  hides  itself  away.  That  is  why  the  first  cock- 
crow is  considered  as  good  as  day,  and  is  apt  to  bring  a 
sigh  of  relief  from  the  awe-stricken  bosom.  A  man  can 
start  on  his  errand  without  any  fear  of  the  devil.  One 
man  told  me  how  once  in  his  youth  he  was  pasturing  a 
herd  of  bullocks,  but  somehow,  one  evening,  he  was  late  in 
driving  them  back  to  the  village  :  they  ran  about,  and  he 
lost  sight  of  them.  He  went  in  search  of  them,  wandering 
from  wood  to  field,  from  hill  to  valley,  but  all  in  vain.  At 
last  he  seemed  to  lose  consciousness ;  he  did  not  know 
where  he  was  no  more  than  what  he  was  about :  a  cloud 
had  settled  on  his  weary  mind,  till,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  cock's 
crow  brought  him  back  to  his  senses,  just  in  time  to 
prevent  his  stepping  over  a  ditch  and  tumbling  down  into 
a  deep  pond.  Not  that  you  will  not  find  men  shaking 
their  head  with  a  smile  at  the  story,  and  suggesting : 
''Well,  sleep  may  have  troubled  him!"  But  again, 
some  one  else  will  immediately  be  reminded  of  some 
similar  mysterious  case  which  had  befallen  him  also  in 
his  youth,  of  which  no  plausible  explanation  was  to  be 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WOKK    225 

given  either.  The  devil  seems  to  have  freer  play  with 
youths,  at  all  events.  But  if  a  peasant  has  a  long 
journey  before  him,  he  will,  all  the  same,  travel  at  night, 
especially  if  there  is  moonlight ;  and  if  the  road  is  good 
and  fairly  even,  he  will  simply  lie  down  in  his  cart,  as 
we  might  do  in  a  railway  carriage,  and  with  much  more 
comfort,  and  his  oxen  slowly  but  steadily  will  draw  him 
on  with  just  as  much  safety  as  the  engine  draws  the 
train. 

If  the  sun  is  the  peasant's  clock,  the  moon  {luna)  is  his 
calendar.  The  phases  of  the  moon  are  the  chief  regulator 
of  peasant  activity,  especially  a  woman's ;  a  brooding  hen 
is  not  to  be  set  on  her  eggs  at  new  moon,  because  the 
chickens  will  then  be  continually  shrieking ;  the  hair  is 
not  to  be  cut  during  a  waning  moon,  for  then  it  will  fall 
off.  The  whitewashing  of  the  walls  is,  on  the  contrary, 
to  be  done  during  a  waning  moon,  by  which  means  the 
troublesome  insects  will  be  killed.  The  planting  and 
felling  of  the  trees  is  also  regulated  by  the  moon,  and  the 
sowing  of  seeds  too  ;  if  the  root  is  the  important  part  of 
the  plant,  the  seed  ought  to  be  sown  during  a  waning 
moon  ;  if  the  outer  part  is  to  bear  the  fruit,  then  at  new 
moon.  The  moon  is  also  a  weather  foreteller ;  according 
to  the  position  of  the  crescent  in  the  sky,  one  can  say  if 
the  month,  or  at  least  the  quarter,  is  to  be  wet  or  dry ;  if 
the  horns  are  upturned,  there  will  be  a  drought ;  if  they 
turn  downward,  there  will  be  much  rain.  If,  as  it  often 
happens  in  winter,  the  moon  has  a  halo,  the  weather  will 
be  severe.  At  the  time  of  an  eclipse  the  moon  is  eaten 
by  vircolacif  and  this  presages  war,  or  invasion  ! 
{resmerita) . 

It  is  a  very  good  thing  to  have  money  about  you  when 
you  first  see  the  new  moon,  for  then  you  will  not  be 
in  want  of  money  for  the  whole  month.  But  do  not 
by  any  means  come  in  to  announce  to  those  in  the  house 
that  there  is  a  new  moon,  for  all  the  pots  in  the  kitchen 
will  get  broken ! 

At  the  sight  of  the  new  moon  {crai-nou)  children  will 
go  into  the  yard  and  address  it  thus  : 

16 


226         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"Moon,  new  moon, 
Cut  the  bread  in  two, 
And  give  to  us. 
Half  to  thee, 
Health  to  me."  * 

The  moon  is  a  great  favourite  with  the  people ;  she 
is  the  sister  of  the  sun,  and  a  beautiful  legend  tells  us 
the  story  of  their  origin. 

The  powerful  sun  rises  one  morning  and  sets  out 
in  search  of  a  suitable  bride.  Nine  years  on  nine 
successive  horses,  he  has  been  running  the  world  over 
high  and  low,  but  has  found  nothing  to  please  him, 
except  that  on  a  sea  strand  he  has  come  across  a  group 
of  nine  girls,  amongst  whom  the  youngest,  sitting  in 
the  middle,  like  "a  fine  flower,"  surpassed  them  all  in 
nimbleness  of  fingers  at  weaving  and  beauty  of  her  face, 
and  this  was — 

*'  Ileana 
Simziana  f 
The  queen  of  the  flowers, 
And  of  the  carnations. 
The  sister  of  the  sun, 


The  sun  goes  up  to  her,  praises  her  industry,  and 
proposes  to  wed  her,  explaining  that  with  ail  his 
researches  he  has  not  been  able  to  find  a  fitter  wife 


*  "Lima,  luna  noua, 
Taie  panea  'n  doua, 
^i  ne  da  si  noua, 
"yie  jumatate, 
Mie  sanatate." 

f  Ileana  is  Helen ;  Simziana^  supposed  to  be  derived  from  "  semi- 
divine  "  is  also  called  Gosinzeana,  especially  about  Moldavia. 

J  "Ileana 

Simziana 
Doamna  florilor 
S'a  garoafelor 
Sora  soarelui 
Spuma  laptelui." 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    227 

for    himself.      Ileana    timidly    repels    the  suit,   on  the 

ground  that  "who  has  ever  seen,  who  has  ever  heard 

of  a  brother  wedding  his  own  sister  ?  "     The  sun  insists, 

however,  and  Ileana,  seeing  no  other  way  out  of  the 

difficulty,  promises  to  consent  if  he  is  able  to  build  for 

her  a  bridge  of  cast  iron  across  the  Black  Sea,  with,  at  the 

end  of  it,  a  ladder  reaching  up  to  heaven.     The  powerful 

sun  has  nothing  more  to  do  than  just  "  clap  his  hands," 

and  bridge  and  ladder  are  ready  in  a  moment.     Then, 

going   up  the  ladder,  the  sun  gets  into  heaven,  where 

he  finds  Adam  and  Eve,  who,  hearing  of  his  arrival,  are 

awfully  shocked,  and  try  by  all  means  to  bring  home 

to  him  the  unfitness,  nay  the  great  sin,  of  wedding  one's 

sister.     They  take  him  over  the  heavens,  where  he  sees 

long  tables  with  joyous  guests  around,  and  all  sorts  of 

pleasant  things.     Then  over  hell,  where  he  sees  all  sorts 

of  dreadful  punishments  for  sinners.     But  it  is  all  in 

vain.     The  sun  was  young  then,  passion  had  the  best  of 

him,  and  he  came  down  to  his  sister  pressing  his  suit 

harder  than  ever.    After  repeated  protestations,  Simziana, 

in  order  to  win  time,  asks  for  a  copper  bridge  with  a 

cathedral   at   the  end,   to  be   married    in ;    but    she  is 

immediately  granted  her  desire  by  the  mere  clapping 

of  the  sun's  hands,  and  she  must  give  in.     They  start 

for  the  church,   he  leading  her  in  front   of  him   and 

holding  her  by  the  hand.     But    Ileana    has  her  own 

scheme ;    she    asks    the    sun    to  let  her  walk  behind, 

pointing  out  how  unfit  it  is  for  a  woman  to  walk  in 

front  of  her  husband.     Left  behind,  she  makes  the  sign 

of  the  cross,  jumps  into  the  sea  and  is  drowned:  God 

pities  her  and  turns  her  into  a  barbel.     The  sun  at  once 

commands  fishers  to  search  for  her  through  the  whole  sea, 

but  they  fish  out  nothing  but  a  barbel.     Saints  come 

down  from  heaven,  clean  her  neatly  of  her  scales,  and 

throw  her  up  into  the  sky,  Adam  and  Eve  take  her  in ; 

they  polish  her  and  call  her  Luna.     She  weeps  bitter 

tears  for  fear  of  again  meeting  the  sun,  but  God  is  kind 

to  her  and  orders  that,  although  her  dominion  will  be  in 

the  sky  as  well  as  the  sun's,  he  shall  never  come  within 

reach  of  her,  and  so  it  is  that — 


228         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"When  the  moon  shines 
The  sun  sets ; 
When  the  sun  rises 
The  moon  dives  in  the  sea."  * 


ni 

The  Roumanians  are  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  an  agri- 
cultural population,  and  in  Free  Eoumania  more  than 
anywhere  else.  A  German  expert  in  the  matter  assigns 
her  the  third  place  among  the  agricultural  countries  of 
the  world ;  she  comes  third  only  after  Russia  and  the 
United  States,  which,  colossal  as  they  are,  being  69 
and  41  times  respectively  the  size  of  Eoumania,  produce 
each  only  about  eight  times  as  much  as  she  does, 
Roumania  cultivating  20 '7  per  cent. — 60  per  cent,  of 
her  superficies — the  other  two  only  8*3  per  cent,  and 
5*2  per  cent,  respectively.  And  to  think  that  the  great 
giants  should  still  wish  to  bite  a  mouthful  from  the  mite's 
tiny  morsel ! 

The  chief  agricultural  products  are  wheat  and  maize. 
The  soil  is  very  fertile,  mostly  "  heavy  land,"  exactly 
the  best  fitted  for  corn-growing.  The  arable  stratum 
is  deep ;  some  places,  like  the  Delta  and  the  Bugeac  or 
south  of  Bassarabia,  are  said  to  be  the  most  fertile  in 
the  world,  with  an  arable  layer  of  one  metre  depth. 
With  such  soil,  no  wonder  that  manuring  is  quite  a 
novelty,  and  looked  at  by  the  peasants  as  a  wonder  in 
itself.  On  the  other  hand,  agricultural  methods  are  very 
behind  the  times.  The  ploughing  is  still  done  by  the 
old  simple  plough,  drawn  by  oxen,  only  very  seldom  by 
horses;  but  there  was  a  time,  not  very  far  back,  when 
even  the  plough  was  of  wood  !  To-day,  one  may  see 
on  Roumanian  soil  the  latest  improvements  of  agri- 
cultural  machinery,  but   that   is   on   the   lands   of  rich 


^'  "  Luna  cand  luce^te 
Soarele  sfin|ie^te ; 
Soare  c4nd  rasare 
Luna  intra'n  mare.' 


^^, 

li 

i     ^^^^H 

PP^i                          ^^  -w^illHIMIMMMI^M^M 

Carrying  the  Hay. 


\Photo,  y.  Cazaban, 


e  page  228. 


With  Hay  to  Town. 


IPhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    229 

agriculturists  only,  and  here  we  are  concerned  with, 
plain  peasants  only,  small  agriculturists,  whose  number 
is  reckoned  to  be  some  937,389,  as  against  some  4,060 
large  and  middle  agriculturists,  owning  land  above  one 
hundred  hectares  each.  From  early  spring  into  late 
autumn,  with  hardly  an  interruption  in  summer,  one 
may  see  ploughs  with  two  at  least,  or  three  and  four 
pairs  of  oxen,  slowly  marching  up  and  down  hill,  and 
trimming  the  earth  with  dark  velvet  stripes,  growing 
broader  and  broader  under  their  untiring  steps,  till  they 
have  covered  the  whole  field  with  an  ample  brown  cloak. 
The  oldest  man  holds  the  horns  of  the  plough,  to  draw 
the  furrow  straight ;  a  boy  with  his  long  whip  drives  the 
oxen,  who  walk  sedately  on,  under  the  old-fashioned 
heavy  yoke,  looking,  with  their  melancholy  black  eye, 
as  though  they  had  long  given  up  all  hope  of  progress 
in  their  employment.  "With  all  his  slowness  in  adopting 
improvements,  the  peasant  seems  to  have  got  a  deep 
sense  of  the  suffering  connected  with  the  yoke,  but  instead 
of  bestowing  his  sympathy  on  the  ox,  it  is  the  yoke 
he  has  made  an  almost  sacred  thing  of.  It  is  a  sin  to 
put  into  the  fire  a  yoke,  or  even  a  splinter  of  it. 

The  sowing  is  done  by  hand  only.  A  pretty  sight 
to  look  at  is  the  sower,  with  arms  swinging  regularly, 
as  if  in  the  act  of  pronouncing  incantations  on  the  fresh 
dark  furrow.  Still  prettier  the  sight  of  mowers,  in  a 
straight,  long  row  in  the  flowery  meadow ;  a  splendid 
and  delightful  exercise  too,  and  if  machines  were  intro- 
duced for  every  other  work,  mowing,  at  least,  should 
be  left  to  the  hand  scythe,  and  as  many  people  as 
possible  induced  to  partake  in  it — it  would  widen  the 
area  of  human  happiness !  But  machines  should  be 
introduced  as  soon  as  possible  for  the  cutting  of  wheat ; 
the  sickle  is  an  instrument  of  torture,  and  reaping  the 
most  tiring  and  hardest  toil  in  the  fields,  and  not  in 
the  least  a  healthy  exercise  either,  as  mowing  is.  Hoeing 
is  done  in  very  primitive  ways  too,  and  very  hard  work 
it  is,  but  at  least  it  has  the  advantage  of  being  a  healthy, 
strengthening  occupation.  And  what  amount  of  hoeing 
is    required    one    may    imagine,    knowing    that    Free 


230         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

Roumania  alone  grows  maize  on  more  than  two  million 
hectares,  that  every  maize  field  requires  at  least  two 
successive  hoeings,  and  that  maize  is  the  staple  food 
of  the  Roumanians  at  large.  It  is  striking  how  all 
Latin  people  took  to  maize,  imported  from  America 
only  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Before 
maize,  the  Roumanian's  food  was  millet,  called  in 
Roumanian  '*  meiu "  or  malai,  whence  the  name  of 
mamaliga,  made  now  of  maize,  the  polenta  of  the 
Italians,  a  kind  of  hard  porridge,  only  sweeter  and 
tastier  than  porridge.  Millet  is  almost  out  of  use 
now,  and  grown  only  on  a  very  small  scale.  Maize 
production  is  difficult,  as  it  has  been  calculated  that 
for  one  hectare  of  maize  the  labour  required  is  42  days, 
while  the  same  hectare  of  wheat  requires  only  10  days* 
labour.  The  wheat  grown  in  Roumania  is  said  to  be 
of  the  very  best  quality,  richer  in  gluten  than  any 
other  in  Europe.  There  are  two  sorts  of  wheat ;  by 
far  the  most  appreciated  is  the  autumn  corn,  sown  in 
September,  which,  if  there  is  plenty  of  snow  in  winter, 
will  answer  splendidly,  but  woe  if  the  winter  has  been 
bare  of  snow !  Then  the  agriculturist  will  be  glad  to  fall 
back  on  the  spring  corn.  Oats  seem  to  answer  very  well, 
but  are  cultivated  on  a  comparatively  small  area,  being 
only  used  for  horse  feeding,  and  not  much  asked  for 
abroad,  it  appears.  Porridge  is  an  unknown  thing 
among  Roumanians,  and  oatmeal  bread  is  considered  as 
a  calamity,  to  fall  on  poor  people  in  famine  times  only. 
Neither  does  rye  bread  enjoy  much  popularity,  and  it 
is  cultivated  on  a  still  smaller  area.  Rape-seed  is  hardly 
cultivated  except  by  large  agriculturists;  it  can  give 
splendid  results  and  help  a  man  on  wonderfully,  but 
can  also  bring  him  to  ruin  in  no  time,  with  the  most 
unsettled  of  weathers ! 

Important  as  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  ways 
of  working  it  may  be,  it  is  not  the  only  thing :  a  good 
harvest  depends  very  much  on  the  weather,  and  this 
is  so  very  uncertain  that  an  agriculturist's  head  may 
have  ample  time  to  turn  grey  between  Lady-Day  and 
Michaelmas,  St,  George  and  St.  Demetre,  as  to  whether 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    231 

it  will  rain  in  time,  or  if  it  will  stop  raining  in  time, 
or  if  there  will  be  no  hail  storms ;  troubles  from  which, 
in  fact,  nothing  can  distract  his  anxious  mind,  except 
the  hardness  and  pressure  of  the  work  itself.  The  care- 
worn mind  of  the  poor  agriculturist,  always  on  the 
look-out  for  future  events,  has  invented  a  number  of 
prognostics,  in  which  not  only  the  moon  but  all  nature 
takes  a  part.  When  the  sparrows  flutter  about  chirruping ; 
when  the  cattle  make  a  row  and  the  forest  is  astir  with 
sound  ;  when  the  cock  crows  all  day  long,  the  ducks 
beat  the  ground  with  their  wings,  and  the  frogs  keep 
up  their  croaking  concert ;  when  the  mist  rises,  the  sun 
sets  in  a  cloud,  and  your  ears  itch,  there  will  surely  be 
rain.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  the  setting  sun  "  looks 
behind,"  gilding  the  sides  of  the  hill  he  rose  from,  when 
the  sparrows  take  a  bath  in  the  dust,  when  the  storks 
stand  quietly  in  the  field,  the  lambs  gambol  gaily  about, 
and  the  cat  after  washing  her  face  with  her  paw  looks  at 
the  door,  there  will  be  fine  weather.  But  when  the 
sparrows  are  hurrying  about,  looking  for  a  shelter  under 
the  roof,  when  the  lark  dashes  unheedingly  at  the 
window,  when  cattle  bellow,  looking  up  into  the  air, 
and  the  pig  goes  about  with  a  straw  blade  in  his  snout, 
then  a  storm  is  threatening.  And  many  other  are  the 
weather  prognostics,  and  what  is  still  more  bewildering 
than  their  number  is  that  they  are  often  contradictory. 
But  then  there  are  means  of  influencing  the  weather, 
some  of  which  have  already  been  alluded  to,  as  the 
Paparude,  the  Caloian,  the  witcheries  of  the  Solomonari ; 
in  some  places,  the  interment  of  a  doll  at  a  crossing 
is  supposed  to  stop  the  rain,  or  again,  the  tossing  down 
into  a  well  of  a  holy  image,  stolen  out  of  a  church  or 
house.  Besides,  from  Joi-mari  (Thursday  before  Easter) 
until  Ispas  (Ascension  Day),  the  women  will  never  do 
any  house  work,  such  as  spinning,  sewing,  or  laundry 
work,  on  a  Thursday,  as  it  might  either  bring  down  hail, 
or  else  stop  the  rain  and  bring  in  a  drought. 

The  uncertainty  of  the  weather  is  thus  the  greatest 
drawback  with  Koumanian  agriculture,  and  this  has 
surely  done  much  to  work  into  the  peasant's  head  the 


232         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

belief  that  all  depends  only  on  God's  will,  and  all  is  to 
be  expected  only  from  Him.  Among  the  leading  classes 
there  is  a  talk  of  irrigation,  and  plantations  of  new 
woods,  and  systems  of  manuring  and  new  methods  of 
tillage  being  introduced,  but  all  that  is  a  matter  of  time, 
a  long  time  to  wait,  and  also  a  matter  of  capital,  hardly 
ever  available.  Trials,  however,  are  made  on  some 
private  properties,  and  especially  on  the  Crown  dominions, 
whose  chief  object  seems  to  be  to  become  model-farms 
for  the  surrounding  peasants  to  copy.  Until  the  hoped- 
for  progress  has  settled  in,  the  Roumanian  peasant  will 
go  on  sticking  to  his  traditional  ways  and  methods,  and 
will  look  to  Heaven  for  rain  and  for  sunshine,  but  will 
all  the  same  firmly  believe  that  the  only  possible  work 
for  him  to  do  is  agriculture.  It  is  really  wonderful  to 
look  at  their  faithfulness  to  the  soil,  at  their  unshaken 
loyalty  to  husbandry :  hardly  have  they  shut  the  doors 
of  their  empty  barns  in  a  bad  year  than  they  will 
unhesitatingly  again  begin  to  plough,  to  sow,  to  harrow, 
and  so  on,  year  after  year,  with  their  hopes  and  their 
fears  always  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth.  Beside  the 
evils  arising  from  unseasonable  weather  there  are  others. 
Mischievous  insects  there  are,  depositing  their  eggs  in 
the  sown  fields  in  September ;  but  then  a  good  frosty 
winter  will  destroy  them  one  and  all — let  alone  that  they 
are  ^likely  to  have  been  eaten  up  by  crows,  which,  how- 
ever, from  a  blessing  can  become  a  curse,  if  they  find  no 
insects,  destroying  whole  fields  of  corn  and  maize.  Then 
dogs,  in  numerous  free  flocks  about  the  villages,  are  great 
destroyers  of  maize  in  autumn,  in  which  damage  the 
badgers  take  their  part  in  the  vicinity  of  woods ;  the  very 
sparrows  become  a  nuisance  to  the  com  grower,  and 
nothing  but  the  gentle  swallow  will  help  against  the 
general  damage — that  is  why  peasant  boys  will  tell  you 
that  it  is  no  sin  to  kill  a  sparrow,  but  a  very  great  one 
to  harm  a  swallow.  All  these  minor  evils,  however,  are 
noticed  by  the  husbandman  only  in  bad  years ;  at  other 
times  he  will  tell  you,  when  God  gives,  there  is  plenty 
for  all  his  beasts  to  feed  upon,  and  for  man  to  reap 
plentifully. 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    233 

In  all  the  minor  branches  of  agriculture  there  is  still 
much  room  for  improvement :  some  of  them  only  want 
reviving,  as  they  seem  only  to  be  asleep,  after  having 
flourished  in  old  times ;  others  want  downright  develop- 
ment. 

The  Eoumanian  is  not  much  of  a  gardener — so  little, 
indeed,  that  vegetable  gardens  are  called  bulgdrii,  being 
almost  always  kept  by  immigrant  Bulgarians,  who  grow 
all  the  vegetables  for  the  town's  supply,  the  staple  pro- 
duce being  melons,  water  and  sugar  melons,  cucumbers, 
pimentos,  cabbages,  vegetable  marrows,  tomatoes,  &c. 
Potatoes  do  not  yet  enjoy  much  favour  with  the 
Roumanian  peasant  as  regular  food,  but  seem  to  be 
gaining  ground,  nevertheless ;  they  are  grown  in  the 
bulgdrii,  but  still  more  are  they  sown  between  the 
maize,  where  also  one  can  see  no  end  of  pumpkins 
creeping  among  the  maize  in  all  directions,  and  also 
haricot  beans,  which  are  grown  in  great  quantities, 
being  the  staple  food  of  the  Roumanians  in  fasting 
times. 

Vines  are  cultivated  on  an  immense  area,  and  there 
are  places  celebrated  for  wine  in  Transylvania,  Valachia, 
and  especially  Moldavia;  in  good  and  plentiful  years 
the  wine  comes  down. at  such  a  rate  that  it  is  sold  at 
fivepence  the  vadra  (some  fifteen  litros — over  three 
gallons),  of  course,  not  of  the  very  best  quality,  yet  such 
as  splendidly  suits  the  business  of  wine-dealers  in  the 
"West  of  Europe  !  But  vineyards  are  mostly  near  towns 
and  belong  to  townspeople ;  there  are  vineyards  round 
the  villages,  but  few  of  these  cultivated  for  trade  ;  hardly 
ever  will  a  peasant  sell  his  wine.  He  makes  a  cask  or 
two  at  the  most,  and  just  manages  to  get  it  drunk  before 
frost  comes  on,  as  deep  cellars  are  not  a  usual  commodity 
in  peasant  households.  In  hilly  regions  they  grow 
prunes,  of  which  alcohol  is  made.  The  Valachian  sort 
is  celebrated  under  the  name  of  fuica,  a  light,  tasty 
drink,  mostly  used  as  an  aperient,  very  agreeable  if  well 
made ;  but  the  peasants  usually  make  it  at  home,  and 
distillation  is  a  rather  complicated  process,  and  the  result 
is  that  what  they  get  to  drink  is  a  horrid  stuff  compared 


234         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

with  the  otherwise  stronger  Moldavian  rakiu,  and 
especially  the  good  Moldavian  wine. 

In  olden  times  the  Roumanians  used  to  be  great  honey 
producers,  owing  to  the  riches  of  flowers  in  the 
meadows,  but  since  tillage  has  more  and  more  en- 
croached on  the  hayfields,  and  sugar  mills  have  taken 
in  hand  the  industry  of  the  bees,  this  production  has  very 
much  diminished ;  but  there  is  a  tendency  to  revive  it. 

Besides  these  agricultural  occupations,  others  are  being 
pushed  more  and  more  to  the  front.  Mining  is  gradually 
opening  as  a  new  or  renewed  peasant  industry;  in 
Transylvania  it  is  mostly  by  Roumanian  peasants  that 
the  mines  of  salt,  lead,  iron,  silver  and  gold  are  worked ; 
in  Free  Roumania  there  are  extensive  petrole'jm  fields, 
whose  area  is  developed  year  by  year  farther  ;  anthracite 
mines,  worked  by  peasants  also,  and  large  salt  mines, 
which,  however,  are  almost  entirely  worked  by  criminals 
sentenced  to  hard  labour. 

Another  trade  once  in  great  favour  with  the  Roumanian 
peasant,  but  disappearing  fast  now  with  the  multiplica- 
tion of  railway  lines,  is  the  carrying  trade  {cdrdu§ia,  or 
chiria).  Formerly  endless  strings  of  oxen-carts  could  be 
seen  filing  off  slowly  along  the  highways,  carrying  corn  to 
Galatzi  and  Braila,  the  greatest  ports  on  the  Danube; 
the  trade  is  now  almost  extinct,  but  it  used  to  bring 
a  fair  income  into  the  peasant's  pocket.  Even  in  the 
mountains  the  locomotive  is  striving  hard  to  replace  the 
patient  ox,  but  the  lines  through  the  mountains  being 
few  as  yet,  we  may  still  have  the  chance  of  coming  across 
old-fashioned  carriers.  "What  they  carry  here  is  timber, 
in  carts  too,  but  still  more  in  rafts  (plute)  which  are 
not  over  safe,  being  made  up  only  of  the  wood  carried, 
and  fastened  together  with  ropes,  more  seldom  with 
iron  chains;  these  rafts  are  delightful  to  look  at,  as 
they  slide  arrow-like  on  the  swift  stream,  but  are  apt 
to  make  you  feel  very  uncomfortable,  if  you  too 
happen  to  be  upon  one  of  them.  Only,  you  soon  get 
used  to  it.  And  then  the  scenery  is  so  beautiful  all  about 
you,  the  way  so  smooth ;  the  able  cirmaciu  in  front  and 
the  trustworthy  ddlcdu§  steering  behind  look   so   very 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    235 

wise  and  competent,  that  you  entirely  forget  you  are 
gliding  on  Death's  slippery  back.  It  is  not  at  all  rare  to 
hear  of  unfortunate  accidents  in  connection  with  rafts, 
but  the  news  of  them  does  not  spread  far,  and,  even 
in  the  place,  they  do  not  stop  for  one  moment  the  busy 
course  of  the  other  rafts. 

The  Eoumanian  is  not  a  tradesman,  except  in  so  far  as 
trade  is  connected  with  his  own  special  pursuits,  or  with 
agriculture:  if  he  has  an  industry,  it  is  industry  as  a 
direct  branch  of  agriculture ;  if  he  has  a  business,  it 
is  only  to  sell  his  own  agricultural  goods,  and  these 
he  hardly  ever  sells  except  on  the  spot.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  towns,  the  peasants  sometimes  go  in  with  a 
cart-load  of  firewood,  eggs,  or  milk  produce,  but  town 
dealers  are  often  too  much  for  them,  and  on  returning 
home  at  night  they  will  find  out  that  if  they  have 
not  actually  lost  by  trade,  the  day's  labour  and  often  also 
that  of  the  oxen  have  gone  for  nothing ;  that  is  why  they 
prefer  to  sell  their  wares  for  a  trifle  to  the  crafty  Jew 
who  comes  out  to  meet  them  far  beyond  the  town's 
barrier.  But  a  market  the  peasant  is  always  glad  to 
go  to  is  a  fair  (iarmaroc),  where,  beside  traffic,  there  is  a 
good  supply  of  amusement  too;  fairs  used  to  be  great 
things  with  poor  and  rich  some  time  ago,  but  they  are 
falling  more  and  more  into  disuse  now. 

But  the  Roumanian  is  a  tradesman  where  he  cannot 
call  the  soil  his  own,  in  the  regions  of  the  Pindus.  A 
cheese  trade  was  developed  early ;  the  Valachian  cheese 
used  to  play  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  commerce  of 
Ragusa  that  it  was  used  along  with  money  as  a  standard 
of  price.  The  price  of  the  caseus  valachicus  (ca§  or 
hrenza,  called  hrenga  in  a  document  of  1357)  was  regu- 
lated by  the  authorities.  But  the  cheese  trade  was 
insufficient  for  Roumanian  wants ;  they  took  to  the 
carrying  trade  too,  doing  it  by  means  of  caravans ;  with 
their  mountain  nags,  the  Roumanian  chirigii  carried  lead 
from  Bosnia  to  Ragusa  and  took  back  salt  in  return ; 
to-day  still,  many  Roumanians  are  carriers.  Very  many 
of  them,  too,  are  innkeepers  (Jiangii)  and  their  (hans) 
inns  are  reputed  by  travellers  to  be  the  cleanest  in  the 


236         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

country.  Also  industry  is  much  more  developed  south 
of  the  Danube,  where  many  Valachs  are  found  to  have 
settled  in  towns  and  undertaken  various  industries, 
especially  metal  work,  at  which  they  seem  to  be  very 
clever,  their  filigrees  being  quite  famous.  They  also  are 
said  to  be  particularly  skilful  at  wood-carving. 

The  Roumanian  of  the  Carpathians,  always  master  of 
the  soil,  has  kept  to  the  working  of  it;  that  is  why 
commerce  has  been  left  for  foreigners  to  take  in  hand. 
Among  the  ruling  classes  there  is  much  talk  in  Free 
Roumania  of  developing  industry  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people — they  had  better  care  about  all  the  development 
that  could  still  be  given  to  agriculture,  for,  poor  as  the 
Roumanian  peasant  is,  he  is  still  at  a  great  advantage 
compared  to  his  brother  in  Western  industrial  countries ; 
he  has  at  least  fresh  air  to  live  in  and  work  in,  and 
splendid  nature  to  look  at,  which  benefits  are  denied  the 
workman  in  the  mill,  and  must  make  a  very  great 
difference  to  their  bodies  and  minds.  Thank  God,  up  to 
now  we  have  only  a  few  mills  of  paper,  matches,  rough 
cloth  and  sugar;  if  some  profit  is  to  be  expected  from 
them,  it  is  only  in  a  dim  far-away  future ;  up  to  now, 
they,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  have  only  brought  a  great 
expense  on  Government  for  protecting  them,  and  ridi- 
culously high  prices  for  paper  and  still  more  for  sugar. 

But  the  Roumanian  peasant  is  a  good  deal  of  an  in- 
dustrialist in  his  own  way.  Almost  everything  about  the 
house,  with  the  house  itself,  is  of  his  own  make.  I  have 
seen  peasants  making  their  own  stoves  and  manufacturing 
the  very  bricks  for  them.  Among  them,  the  ablest  at  one 
special  work  is  sure  to  be  applied  to  by  the  others  in  case 
of  want ;  and  so  one  always  meets  in  a  village  with 
peasant  artisans  such  as  carpenters,  wheelwrights,  and  so 
on,  even  bootmakers  and  cobblers.  No  doubt  all  these 
village  industries  can  be  enlarged  and  greatly  improved, 
but  it  would  be  a  great  pity  if  this  had  the  result  of 
drawing  the  peasants  into  towns.  The  Roumanian  does 
not  dislike  trade,  he  well  appreciates  it — 

"  Trade  is  a  golden  bracelet "  * 
*  "  Me^te^ugul  e  bra^ara  de  aur." 


To  face  page  237. 


Woman  Riding. 


IPhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    237 

says  a  popular  proverb ;  but  he  by  far  prefers  agriculture, 
and  there  are  trades  that  seem  to  thoroughly  disagree 
with  the  Eoumanian  nature,  the  blacksmith,  e.g.,  is 
invariably  a  gipsy,  so  much  so  that  **the  gipsy"  means 
just  the  same  as  '*  the  blacksmith." 


lY 

But  the  great  industriaHst   in  a  peasant  household  is 
the  housewife.     To  begin  with,  all  the  household  duties 
are  in  her  hands,  as  the  man  does  not  interfere   with 
them — never,  at  least,  indoors ;  in  the  yard  he  may  help 
her  if  he  has  a  mind  to,  by  splitting  firewood  or  milking 
the  cow,  but  everything  else  is  the  woman's  business. 
And  if  she  has  a  host  of  children,  the  elder  ones  will 
usually  be  of  some  help  to  the  mother.     From  the  early 
morning  she  has  to  set  the  house  in  order  and  to  think 
of  preparing    the    family's  food.     The   house  must  be 
swept,  after  having  been  sprinkled  with  water  to  prevent 
the  rising  of  dust.     The  rubbish  is  carefully  thrown  out 
on  the  rubbish  heap,  but  on  no  account  thrust  carelessly 
into  the  sun's  face,  which  it  would  stain,  and  then  the 
sun  would  take  his  revenge  by  burning  the  crops,  or  in 
winter  he  may  let  loose  the  harness  of  frost,  and  bring 
perdition  on  man  and  beast.     If  she  has  possibly  been 
too  busy  to   sweep  in   the  morning,  she  will  do  it  in 
the  evening,  but  then  the  rubbish  is  not  to  be  taken  out, 
but  left  behind  the   door  till   next   morning,   otherwise 
the  cows  would   not   come   to  their  calves.     She  then 
gets  food  ready.     Eoumanian  cookery  is  very  elaborate, 
and  there  is  a  number  of  dishes  a  Roumanian  peasant 
woman  can  cook  if  she   only  can   afford  it,   but  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  want  will  come  to  the  rescue  and  make 
things  ever  so  much  easier.     The  plainest  kind  of  food, 
the  real  national   dish,   is  the    mamdliga  with   hrdnza 
(cheese,  sheep  cheese).     The  mamdliga  takes  the  place 
of  bread,  which  is  considered  a   luxury  in   a  peasant's 
house ;    the   mdmdliga  is   always   made   fresh   for   each 
meal  and  eaten  warm ;  cold  mdmdliga  can  be  eaten  too, 


238         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

but  if  a  fire  is  at  hand,  it  is  cut  into  slices  and  fried  on 
the  embers.  Also  a  baked  bread  can  be  made  of  Indian 
meal,  called  malai,  very  tasty  and  sweet.  Dishes  of  herbs 
and  vegetables,  and  of  fowl  and  fish,  are  very  numerous ; 
meat  is  rarely  used.  In  summer  the  meals  are  mostly 
taken  in  the  field,  beside  the  work.  After  the  husband's 
departure  for  the  field,  the  wife  will  put  the  prepared 
food  in  pots,  earthen  pans,  and  clean  napkins;  the 
dry  sort  is  put  in  a  bag,  which  she  usually  rests  on  her 
back,  with  the  sling  aslant  her  head,  the  pots  with  juicy 
food  which  ought  not  to  be  upset  she  carries  in  her  right 
hand  in  a  bundle,  the  left  being  often  occupied  by  the 
baby,  and  thus  loaded  she  will  walk  to  the  field  where 
the  husband  is  long  since  at  work,  and  they  break  their 
fast,  working  afterwards,  with  food  kept  for  the  following 
meal,  at  midday.  At  home  the  meals  are  taken  on  a 
round  low  table  on  three  legs,  which  usually  stands 
against  the  wall  in  the  tinda,  and  is  spread  in  the  middle 
of  the  room  only  for  the  meals.  The  family  sits  round 
as  well  as  it  can,  on  small  stools,  or  anything  handy 
about  the  room,  a  log  or  so,  or  kneeling  on  one  knee  often 
enough.  In  well-to-do  rdzdshi  houses  this  table  is  set 
on  the  large  bed,  and  the  people,  if  few,  will  sit  round, 
not  exactly  lying,  but  with  outstretched  legs,  and  the 
back  leaning  on  cushions  against  the  wall.  No  table- 
cloth is  used,  except  on  festival  occasions.  The  table, 
of  white  wood,  is  milk-white  with  scrubbing ;  the  mdrnd- 
liga  is  turned  out  in  the  middle  of  it  from  the  ciaun 
(iron  round  kettle  for  mdmdliga)  and  stands  like  a  golden 
cupola  smoking  there  until  everybody  has  sat  down 
round  the  table.  In  the  meanwhile  the  wife  is  careful 
to  take  off  the  fire  the  pirostii — iron  tripod  on  which 
the  ciaun  has  been  boiling — otherwise  she  might  also 
burn  in  hell's  flames.  If  the  mdmdliga  is  furrowed  with 
cracks,  this  means  that  an  unexpected  journey  is  at 
hand  for  some  one  of  the  household.  The  men,  who 
usually  go  covered  about  the  house,  will  take  off  their 
hats  or  bonnets  when  sitting  down  to  eat ;  to  eat  covered 
would  be  a  sin,  for  which  *'  God  would  weep  and  the 
devil  laugh."    They  all  quietly  make  the  sign  of  the  cross. 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    239 

Then  the  mdmaliga  is  cut  into  slices,  with  a  thread, 
carefully  from  upside  down,  and  not  the  other  way, 
as  then  the  maize  grows  ear,  and  divided  among  the 
members  of  the  family.  The  courses  then  come  in,  in 
a  porringer  {strachina)  y  put  in  the  middle  of  the  table, 
from  which  every  one  helps  himself  with  his  own  wooden 
spoon,  or  if  there  is  not  a  spoon  for  each,  several  will 
help  themselves  in  turn.  The  bill  of  fare  will  be  as  varied 
as  means  will  permit :  a  chicken  hor§,  a  soup,  wholesome 
and  tasty — made  with  fermented  meal  in  water,  producing 
a  somewhat  sour,  clear  liquid,  to  be  used  for  cooking  the 
whole  week  round — some  stewed  fowl  also,  meat  being 
very  rare  in  villages.  In  winter,  pork  and  mutton  can 
be  had;  mutton  only  about  the  Dobragia.  On  fast -days, 
the  horsh  is  prepared  with  herbs  and  all  sorts  of  vegetables, 
of  which  also  stews  are  made,  like  haricot-beans,  beans, 
peas,  lentils,  beetroot,  potatoes,  cabbages — sour  cabbages 
all  the  winter — pickles,  and,  in  poorer  households,  the 
bill  of  fare  will  not  often  extend  beyond  a  mojdei,  bruised 
garlic,  with  salt  and  water — if  vinegar  can  be  added, 
it  is  considered  a  delicacy  ;  also,  raw  onion  with  salt  will 
easily  constitute  a  dish,  and  I  have  seen  shepherds  on 
fast-days  eat  their  mdmaliga  with  plain  fresh  water  from 
the  pail.  Fruit  is  used  in  stews,  eaten  also  with  mdma- 
liga,  as  soon  as  it  is  ripe,  and  unfortunately  also  long 
before  that  time.  When  pouring  out  the  food  from  the 
pot  the  housewife  must  never  look  into  it  to  see  if  there 
is  no  more  left  at  the  bottom,  but  just  try  with  a  spoon ; 
looking  at  the  bottom  of  the  pot  brings  poverty.  Neither 
must  a  girl  ever  eat  out  of  the  pot,  for  then  she  will  have 
rain  at  her  wedding.  The  drink  is  the  pail  of  water  in 
some  corner  of  the  room,  out  of  which  everybody  helps 
himself  with  a  small  pot  (ulcica) ;  the  grown-up  will  also 
help  themselves  directly  out  of  the  pail.  But  no  one 
ever  drinks  without  tossing  some  drops  out  of  the  vessel, 
by  blowing  them  over  ;  these  are  for  the  dead. 

Besides  the  feeding  of  her  small  or  large  family,  the 
peasant  wife  has  the  care  of  her  fowls,  and  ducks  and 
geese,  and  turkeys,  of  which  she  generally  rears  large 
broods;  if  she  can  afford  to  eat  them  in  the  house — as 


240         FEOM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

many  of  the  well-to-do  will — so  much  the  better,  but 
she  will  probably  prefer  to  sell  them,  because  of  the 
chronic  want  of  money. 

"With  all  this,  the  peasant  wife  has  to  keep  herself 
and  her  family  clean ;  on  Saturday  afternoon  she  is 
always  at  home,  washing  the  linen,  cleaning  and  scrub- 
bing, to  end  at  last  with  a  thorough  washing  of  children, 
husband  and  herself.  The  Idutoare  (washing  of  the  head) 
is  universal  on  Saturday  evening  in  every  Roumanian 
household.  And  it  is  rare  that  a  wife  neglects  her  home 
duties  ;  sarcasms  would  pour  out  upon  her  at  the  Sunday 
dance,  in  the  indirect  strigdturi  (shoutings  of  verses) 
which  often  have  a  really  wholesome  effect  on  village  life. 
Among  these,  there  are  many  aimed  at  lazy  women,  not 
because  there  are  many  lazy  women,  but  because  it  is 
considered  so  great  a  shame  for  a  woman  to  be  lazy. 

"Green  leaf  of  a  tulip, 
How  industrious  my  wife  is: 
She  set  the  pot  for  the  washing 
And  grass  has  grown  underneath  1 "  * 

Besides  the  usual  house  work,  the  peasant  woman 
does  a  large  amount  of  field  work  too ;  no  ploughing  is 
done  by  her,  nor  mowing,  but  any  other  field  work  short 
of  stacking  the  hay,  which  the  men  pretend  is  much 
beyond  a  woman's  capacity,  and  for  which  even  among 
themselves  a  special  gift  seems  to  be  required.  In 
mountainous  districts,  women  do  little  field  work,  as 
there  is  not  overmuch  of  it  for  men,  and  that  is  why 
they  can  do  a  much  larger  amount  of  house  work  ;  some 
of  them,  however,  in  certain  places  help  in  felling  wood 
with  the  men. 

But,  as  already  said,  the  woman  is  the  great  indus- 
trialist of  the  peasantry,  and  she  takes  almost  every  trade 


"^  "  Frunza  verde  ^'o  lalea 
Hamica-i  nevasta  mea ; 
A  pus  oala  sa  se  lea 
§i-a  crescut  iarba  sub  ea  !  " 


OF  THE 

UlNUVERs/TV 

OF 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK     241 

ah  ovo.  She  works  hemp  and  flax,  up  from  the  very 
seed.  The  man  will  only  plough  her  piece  of  land  for 
her,  then  she  sows  the  hemp  or  lint  seed ;  when  the 
plant  is  ripe  and  dry,  she  takes  it  to  the  pool  to  put  it  "  to 
melt,"  then  brings  it  home  and  passes  it  through  all  the 
processes — bracking,  combing,  and  spinning.  The  big 
loom  is  spread  out  in  the  principal  room,  or  in  the  second 
best,  to  be  then  taken  away  and  folded  under  the  roof 
in  spring.  And  all  sorts  of  cloths  are  made  of  hemp  by 
them,  for  everyday  wear ;  of  linen,  and  finer  stuffs. 
They  also  weave  much  cotton  stuff,  the  cotton  being 
bought  in  town  as  prepared  yarn ;  they  make  beautiful 
tissues,  with  varied  patterns  and  elaborate  stripes,  very 
serviceable  as  tablecloths  and  napkins  and  towels,  for 
which  there  is  a  large  demand,  even  in  towns,  as  they 
wear  beautifully.  The  bleaching  is  done  by  the  women, 
too,  the  cloth  being  repeatedly  rinsed  at  the  well  and 
spread  on  the  grass  that  the  sun  may  do  his  part,  whilst 
the  women  will  patiently  sit  by  with  their  distaff  in  their 
girdle,  spinning. 

The  peasant  woman  grows  silk — an  industry  that  was 
universal  once  upon  a  time,  but  neglected  of  late,  though 
now  meeting  with  more  demand  and  fresh  encouragement. 
She  only  buys  in  town  the  silkworm-seed,  then  produces 
worms,  on  the  best  bed  of  the  house,  or  if  there  is  no 
room,  then  under  the  bed,  on  mulberry  leaves,  changed 
daily,  and,  if  no  invasion  of  ants  breaks  in  to  destroy 
them,  they  will  produce  a  finer  or  coarser  sort  of  silk,  of 
yellow  or  white  colour,  which  the  women  then  spin  on  a 
pretty  distaff  in  the  shape  of  a  bow.  "With  silk  they 
weave  stuff  for  shifts  and  head-veils,  sometimes  wonder- 
fully thin  and  beautiful,  with  stripes  or  delicate  designs 
in  white  cotton. 

She  also  works  wool.  After  the  sheep  are  shorn  in 
spring  the  wool  comes  into  the  women's  hands ;  after 
varied  processes  of  washing,  combing,  spinning,  the 
worsted,  of  various  qualities,  according  to  the  thickness  or 
sort  of  wool,  is  woven  into  all  sorts  of  carpets,  for  the 
house  and  for  sale,  into  blankets  and  thick  stuffs,  into 
coverlets  and  many  articles  of  clothing,  it  being  used  in 

17 


242        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  natural  colour,  or  dyed,  in  as  many  colours  as  needed, 
by  the  women  themselves.  They  weave  their  beautiful 
catrintas  with  silver  stripes  or  designs ;  they  weave  all 
their  husbands*  and  all  their  household  garments.  The 
cloth  for  sumane,  of  white  or  brown  worsted,  is  then 
carried  to  a  piua,  a  fulling-mill,  situated  high  up  on  some 
mountain  stream ;  and  the  women  in  most  of  the  places 
will  do  the  carrying,  too.  The  women  about  the  Mol- 
davian Dorna  are  examples  of  this.  Some  scores  of  years 
ago,  when  the  intercourse  along  the  river  Bistritza  was 
limited  to  narrow  footpaths,  one  woman  would  generally 
undertake  to  carry  the  cloth  of  the  whole  village.  The 
cloth  was  loaded  on  horses,  who  were  then  tied  in  a  long 
string  of  a  dozen  perhaps,  each  with  the  bridle  tied 
to  the  tail  of  the  horse  in  front ;  she  drove  them  along 
up-hill,  step  by  step,  singing  all  the  time,  interrupting 
herself  only  to  urge  the  horses  on,  or  rather  making  of 
that  very  incitement  a  refrain  to  her  song  : — 

"  Green  leaf  of  a  tulip, 
Oh  my  poor  heart 
Has  again  begun  to  ache, 
Deh,  horse  Dehl 

And  so  hard  does  it  ache 
That  I  can  ride  no  more, 
Hee,  uphill,  Heel 

Neither  ride  nor  walk  can  I, 
As  does  a  weak  human  being 
Hee,  boy,  hee  1  "  * 


=i=  "  Foaie  verde  ^i-o  lale 
Saraca  inima  me 
lar  o  prins  a  ma  dure 
De,  cal,  de  1 


^'a^a  ma  doare  de  tare 
De  nu  pociu  merge  calare 
Hi,  la  deal,  hi  I 

Nici  calare,  nici  pe  jos 
Cum  e  omul  pacatos 
Hi,  mai,  hi  I 


Wool  bi 


[Photo,  Al.  Antoniu. 


ce  page  242. 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    243 

And  woe  to  the  woman  who  is  not  industrious !  Not 
only  the  husband  may  take  it  upon  himself  to  correct  her 
aziness,  that  does  not  count  for  much — 

"  An  unbeaten  woman  is  like  an  undressed  mill "  * — 

but  there  will  also  be  much  teasing  for  her  at  the  dance 
on  Sunday,  in  the  fearless  sfrigdturi,  at  which  nobody 
dares  to  get  angry,  for  fear  of  exposure ;  one  for  a  lazy 
woman : — 

**  Since  my  mother's  maidenhood, 
I  had  two  lots  of  yarn; 
I  set  the  cloth  on  the  warper, 
I  don't  know  one  or  two  years  since. 

Cloth,  0  cloth! 

Become  a  foal. 
And  do  run  home  to  mother 
And  neigh  that  she  may  weave  thee  I "  f 

Then  the  lazy  woman's  calendar  has  been  made  up  for 
her  in  more  than  one  way,  the  most  widely  spread  of 
which  is  the  following : — 

••Monday  is  (St.)  Luney, 
Tuesday,  Macovey, 
Wednesday  I  go  to  town, 
Thursday  I  do  the  shopping, J 


*  "  Femeia  ne-batuta  e  ca  moara  ne-ferecata." 

f  '•  Din  fetia  mamei  mele 
Avui  doua  torturele 
Pusei  panza  pe  urzoi 
Nu  §tiu  de  un  an  ori  doi. 

Panza,  panza 1 

Fa-te  m&nza 
^i  te  du  la  mam'  acasa 
$i  rincheaza  sa  te  ^asa  I  " 

J    ••Lunl-i  Lunei, 
Mar|ii,  Macovei, 
Mercuri  ma  due  la  targ, 
Joi  tilrguesc. 


244         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Friday  I  come  home, 
Saturday  I  will  rest, 
And  Sunday,  if  the  popa  works, 
I  will  work  also."  * 

Sometimes,   however,  it  appears  that   clever,  cunning 
women  will  be  able  to  take  in  their  surroundings  and  by 
their  ready  wit  cover  their  too  little  love  of  work.     One 
story  tells  of  a  woman  who,  although  married  for  some 
time,  had  spun  no  more  than  one  single  spindle  of  hemp 
yarn  and  carefully  stored  it  up  in  the  loft.   If  the  husband 
ever  hinted  at  anything  like  a  want  of  industry  on  her 
part,  it  was  not  a  mild  scolding  he  got  from  her.     Until 
one  day  he  insisted  on  being  shown  the  winter's  work. 
The  wife  said  the  loft  was  full  of  spindles,  and  even 
offered  to  count  them,  and  with  this  she  lightly  sprang 
to  the  opening  of  the  loft,  while  the  somewhat  slower 
husband  remained  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder.     She  very 
dexterously  show^ed  him  the  one  spindle  a  hundred  times 
in  succession,  until  he,  very  much  confused,  acknowledged 
that  he  had  undeservedly  suspected  his  wife,  and  that 
nothing  more  was  wanted  than  a  rd§cliitor,  a  hand  reel, 
to  make  the  yarn  into  skeins,  and  then  to  set  it  on  the 
loom  for  weaving ;  so  he  set  out  for  the  wood,  to  cut  the 
required  reel.    But  the  audacious  woman  took  a  shorter 
path  thither,  and  from  a  hiding-place  began  to  shout  in 
a  changed  voice:  "  Whoever  cuts  reels,  his  wife  dies!" 
(Cine  taie  rd^chitoare,  femeia-i  moare  f)  at  the  hearing  of 
which  the  fond  husband  returned  home  with  empty  hands. 
But  the  artful  woman  went  the  length  of  laughing  at 
his  credulity.     Next  day  she  played  the  same  trick,  but 
the  third  time  it  no  more  succeeded,  as  the  husband  was 
no  longer  imposed  upon  by  the  ominous  shouting,  and 
brought  home  the  hand-reel.     The  deceitful  woman  was 
not  at  her  wits'  end,  however.     She  just  managed  to 
make  a  skein  with  the  one  spindle  she  had,  then,  filling 


*  Vineri  ma  'ntorc  acasa, 
Simbata  ma  odihnesc, 
^i  Duminica,  daca  a  lucra  popa, 
Oi  lucra  §i  eu." 


PEASANT  AT  HOME  AND  AT  WORK    245 

a  bucket  with  rough,  uncombed  hemp,  set  the  kettle  in 
the  yard  in  order  to  boil  the  yarn,  which  must  be  done 
before  weaving.  On  the  top  of  the  hemp,  she  placed  the 
one  skein,  and  then  began  to  pour  the  boiling  water  on  it. 
As  she  had — or  pretended  to  have — some  other  work  to 
attend  to,  she  asked  her  husband  to  take  care  of  the 
bucket  for  awhile,  but,  "  Mind,"  she  said,  "  let  no  crow 
by  any  means  fly  over  the  bucket,  as  if  she  does,  all  the 
yarn  will  turn  into  rough  hemp  inside."  And  so  the  man 
did,  but  he  found  it  quite  impossible  to  over-rule  the  high 
flying  crows,  and  the  unfortunate  result  was  that  on 
emptying  the  bucket  there  was  nothing  but  rough  hemp 
cdlti  in  it ! 

But  the  hold  fldcdi  (swains)  at  the  hora  would  hear  of 
it,  and  the  too  simple  husband  is  not  considered  less 
answerable  for  the  bad  ways  of  his  wife : — 

*'  The  wife  who  is  in  love 
Washes  and  mends  by  night, 
And  changes  her  shift  by  day  (bis). 

If  she  sets  to  dance  the  hora 

Her  heart  gets  ablaze 

And  the  dance  she  ever  prolongs  (bis).* 


Allegro.    M.M.  =  J^  192. 


i 


Spa  -  la  noa  -  ptea      si  -  car  -  pe   -   §te        §i 


zi-ua     se 


ISSI 


3t=i: 


^m 


^ 


pri  -  mi  -  ne  -  ^te      Si     -     zi-ua    se        pri  -  mi  -  ne^te. 


"Nevasta  care  iube^te 
Spala  noaptea  §i  carpe^te 
§i  ziua  se  primine^te  (bis). 
La  hora  daca  se  prinde 
Inima  i  se  aprinde 
^i  dan^ul  mereu  intinde  (bis). 


246         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

She  jumps,  straining  the  steps, 
The  children  cry,  she  cares  not, 
Neither  for  house  nor  for  table  (bis). 

But  the  husband,  he,  poor  man, 

Carries  his  load  to  the  mill ; 

Devil  take  the  two  of  them  I "  (bis).* 


*  Sare  pasurile  'ndeasa 
Plang  copiii  ei  nu-i  pasa 
Nici  de  casa  nici  de  masa  (bis). 

lar  barbatul  el  saracul 
Cara  la  moara  cu  sacul 
Pe-am4ndoi  lua-i  ar  dracul  I "  (bis). 


I 


CHAPTEE  VI 
THE  PEASANT  IN   HIS   SOCIAL   RELATIONS 
CUSTOMS  AT    BIRTHS,   CHRISTENINGS,   WEDDINGS,   DEATHS 


"A  CHILD  is  a  blessing  in  a  man's  house,"  goes  the 
saying,  and  woe  to  the  woman  who  has  none :  she  will 
feel  extremely  unhappy,  and  will  have  to  consult  babas 
and  submit  to  their  incantations,  and  drink  their  herb- 
infusions,  and  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  get  into  the 
blissful  state  of  motherhood.  Neither  is  one  child  the 
climax  of  happiness,  for  with  one  child  the  too  fond 
parent  has  always  an  anxious  heart  whenever  the 
slightest  ailment  appears ;  and  if  a  parent  were  unfor- 
tunate enough  to  lose  the  one  child,  he  will  assure  you 
that  **  one  child  is  worse  than  none  at  all."  The  Kou- 
manian  peasant  feels  very  comfortable  with  a  houseful 
of  children  round  him,  and  as  a  rule  this  is  also  the 
case ;  one  hardly  ever  comes  on  a  childless  peasant's 
home.  Unfortunately,  though  many  children  are  born, 
it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  I  am  afraid,  that  no  more 
than  half  of  them  are  reared  into  men  and  women. 
The  death-rate  among  small  babies  is  great ;  in  some 
parts,  epidemics  of  diphtheria  have  almost  become 
endemic;  and  if  the  sanitary  arrangements  are  much 
beneath  the  mark  for  grown-up  people,  they  are  much 
more  so  for  children.  And  if  a  Spartan  breeding  is  by 
far  preferable  to  the  up-bringing  of  weaklings,  on  the 
other  hand  it  is  a  great  pity  that  so  many  children  should 
be  mowed  down  by  preventable  diseases. 

247 


248        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

A  woman  who  expects  a  baby  has  many  rules  to  observe 
and  much  advice  to  follow,  and  must  do  this,  and  not  do 
that,  and  so  on,  until  baby  has  seen  daylight.  And  she 
is  never  to  look  at  ugly  things  or  beings,  as  the  child  is 
then  in  danger  of  resembling  them;  and  not  to  steal 
things — as  though  that  inclination  were  inherent  to 
her  actual  state — for  the  image  of  the  stolen  object 
would  appear  on  the  body  or  face  of  the  innocent 
offspring;  and  be  careful  not  to  yearn  for  things,  or  if 
so,  have  the  yearning  satisfied,  or  else  miscarriage  would 
be  the  fatal  outcome  of  deprivation.  When  the  moment 
of  birth  has  come,  great  mystery  must  be  observed,  and 
the  news  must  not  be  spread  about,  as  then  the  birth 
would  be  a  very  pamful  one.  If  another  woman  happens 
to  hear  of  it,  she  should  come  at  once  and  with  some 
shreds  torn  out  of  her  garments,  which  she  should 
bum,  enshroud  the  invalid  in  smoke  or  besprinkle  her 
with  water  from  the  mouth,  or  put  her  own  finger-ring 
on  the  invalid's  finger.  But  cases  are  frequent  enough 
where  the  woman  gives  birth  to  her  child  with  no 
attendance  at  all,  and  it  is  often  born  in  the  field  where 
she  has  been  labouring,  and  she  brings  it  home  in  her 
lap  ;  and  as  to  going  to  bed,  that  is  a  luxury  not  many 
peasant  women  can  afford. 

As  all  over  the  world,  the  boy  is  much  more  welcome 
than  the  girl — apparently  because  his  share  in  life  is  so 
much  lighter  than  the  girl's.  If  a  baby  happens  to 
be  born  in  a  "shirt" — a  kind  of  film  in  which  he  is 
wrapped — this  means  uncommon  luck,  and  the  film  can 
be  made  into  an  irresistible  talisman  for  success  in 
life,  if  put  through  a  good  many  preparations ;  at  any 
rate,  it  is  not  thrown  away,  but  spread  on  a  bunch  of 
sweet-basil,  which  plant  plays  so  important  a  part  in 
the  Roumanian  peasant's  life.  Immediately  after  the 
birth  the  baby  is  washed  carefully  in  hot  water — in 
which  water  if  a  white  goose  has  been  previously  bathed, 
the  child  is  made  proof  against  any  witchery — then 
swaddled  tightly  in  his  swaddling-clothes  and  put  to 
sleep,  not  before  there  is  made  on  its  tiny  forehead  a 
benchiu,   a  small  spot  of  white  ashes,  to  ward  off  the 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     249 

evil-eye.     In  some  places  about  the  Pindus,  the  Armini 
are  said  to   submit   the   new-born   babe  to   the   strong 
Spartan  treatment  of  covering  his  little  body  all  over 
with  salt,  and  after  leaving   him   no   less  than  twelve 
hours  in  that  pickling  state,  they  wash  it  in  hot  water 
mixed  with  wine.     However  that  may  be,  the  bath-water 
of  a  baby  is   not   thrown   away   carelessly   after  using, 
but  is  always  poured  carefully  on  a   clean  place,  never 
beyond  the  house's  shade,  for  fear  of  spilling  it  on  the 
ursite  (the  fairies)  who  would  then  get  very  angry  and 
bring  bad   luck   on   the   child.     Baby  and  mother  have 
to  wear  something  red  about  them,  being  both  exceed- 
ingly liable   to   the  evil-eye,  which  the  red   colour  has 
the   special  power   of  keeping  off.     In  some  places  the 
new-born   baby  is    submitted    to    a    prematurely    long 
fast,   being   suckled   for  the  first  time  only  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  birth,  and  then  a  sieve  with  bread  in  it 
is  put  on  the  mother's  head  during  the  suckling.      When 
friends  or  relatives  come  to  see  her,  she  must  not  say 
a  single  word  at  their  departure,  or  it  would  cause  her 
milk  to   disappear ;    for   that   same   reason,   nothing   is 
taken  out  of  the  house   after  sunset.     Nor  should  the 
swaddhng-clothes  of  the  baby  be  left  out  after  sunset, 
for    then  it   would  lose  its   sleep.      At  night,   shutter 
or  blinds   should  never  be  left   open,   lest   the  invalid 
should  happen  to  see  light  in  any  other  house ;  neither 
is  it  advisable  ever  to  leave  her  alone  before  the  christen- 
ing of  the  baby,  and,  before  going  to  bed,  the  looking- 
glass — if  there  is  one  in  the  room — should  be  covered, 
and  the  room  smoked  with  incense.    As  soon  as  possible 
the  priest  is  called   in   to   read  the  prayers   and   make 
the  apa  or  the  aghiasma  (the  holy  water).     The  little 
oil  lamp  (the  candela)  must  burn  for  forty  days  running. 

On  the  third  day  after  the  birth  there  takes  place  a 
great  banquet  (a  masd-mare)  in  the  house ;  the  midwife 
goes  around  giving  invitations,  and  friends  and  relatives 
all  come  bringing  with  them  presents  for  mother  and 
child.  On  that  same  day,  after  the  banquet,  a  table 
is  prepared  with  eatables,  usually  under  the  holy  images, 
and  everybody  in  the  house  goes    early  to    bed    that 


250        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

night.  The  doors  are  locked  and  are  not  opened  under 
any  inducement,  for  that  night  the  ursitori,  called  in 
other  places  about  the  Pindus  the  A  Ibele  (the  white  ones) 
and  also  the  trei  mire  (the  three  fate-bringing  fairies), 
come  in  and  write  down  "the  luck  of  the  child,"  his 
chance  in  life ;  they  must  meet  with  fair  welcome  and  be 
in  no  way  disturbed  in  this  most  important  act  concerning 
the  future  of  the  child.  In  some  places  even  the  dogs 
are  sent  away  to  friends,  that  their  bark  may  not  disturb 
the  fairies  or  frighten  them  away.  Until  the  christening 
the  child  should  on  no  account  be  left  alone  even  for 
a  moment,  for  the  devil  might  come  and  take  it  away, 
putting  in  its  stead  some  soft  baby,  which  would  remain 
so  all  its  life ;  or  a  strigo'i  (a  vampire)  may  also  come 
in,  and  turn  it  into  a  strigo'i  too.  If  one  were  absolutely 
obliged  to  leave  the  baby  alone,  then  a  broom  leant 
against  it  would  do  the  office  of  keeping  off^  danger. 
The  baby  ought  never  to  be  put  to  sleep  with  its  face 
towards  the  moon,  at  least  not  until  one  year  is  out, 
for  then  it  would  become  a  lunatic^  a  sleep-walker,  or 
at  least  would  get  thin.  Neither  must  it  be  allowed  to 
see  its  face  in  a  looking-glass  before  it  is  three  years 
old,  as  it  then  would  be  liable  to  get  the  falling  sickness, 
cade  din  afar  a,  as  they  call  it. 

The  baby  is  laid  in  a  small  wooden  trough  (alhiu^a) 
— replaced  by  a  larger  one  (an  albie)  as  it  grows — and 
rocked  in  it  to  sleep,  either  on  the  bed,  or,  oftener  still, 
on  the  floor,  in  the  house,  or  out  of  doors,  wherever  the 
mother  is  busy  and,  whenever  she  hears  it  crying  she 
will  manage  to  rock  it  with  the  foot,  whilst  with  her 
hands  she  attends  to  her  work.  When  the  baby  is  lying 
in  its  trough  it  ought  never  to  be  stepped  over,  as  this 
would  prevent  its  growing  tall.  Until  it  is  able  to  walk 
by  itself,  the  mother  keeps  it  ever  at  hand,  if  not  always 
in  her  arms ;  and  wherever  she  goes,  to  the  field  or  in 
the  village,  to  work  or  to  amusement,  the  baby  is  always 
snugly  nestled  in  her  never- weary  arms ;  the  baby  really 
wants  none  but  the  mother,  at  this  early  stage  of  its  life. 
If  it  laughs  in  its  sleep,  it  is  an  angel  telling  it  its  father 
is  dead — and    as    baby  understands  nothing  about  its 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     251 

father,  it  answers  by  its  innocent,  stupid  laugh — but 
if  the  baby  cries  in  sleep,  it  is  that  the  angel  has 
told  it  its  mother  has  died,  and  it  knows  quite  well 
what  a  mother  means.  A  peasant  mother  is  always 
fondling  her  little  baby,  and  she  may  do  anything 
with  it  except  kiss  it  in  the  palm  of  its  hand,  for  then 
it  would  grow  into  a  thief ;  neither  must  she  kiss  it  in 
the  nape  of  the  neck,  for  then  it  would  disobey  her  and 
turn  out  badly.  If  the  child  does  not  walk  in  good  time, 
it  is  supposed  to  be  from  fear,  hesitation,  want  of  courage 
in  the  child;  the  mother  will  then  tie  its  feet  together 
with  a  red  thread,  and  putting  it  astride  on  the  doorstep, 
will  cut  that  thread  with  the  hatchet,  while  another 
woman  stands  by  asking,  **  What  are  you  doing  there  ?  " 
"  I  am  cutting  off  the  baby's  fear,"  answers  the  mother, 
and  the  child  will  walk  very  soon. 

The  christening  takes  place  generally  at  the  week's 
end  after  the  birth,  or  not  much  later ;  the  persons 
who  have  served  as  sponsors  at  the  parents'  wedding  are 
generally  sponsors  for  the  child's  baptism,  too,  or  at 
least  one  of  them,  usually  the  godmother. 

The  baptism  is  celebrated  at  church,  where  the  parents 
of  the  child  do  not  go,  or,  if  they  do,  they  leave  the 
church  during  the  ceremony.  Through  the  christening, 
not  only  the  sponsor  becomes  a  relation  to  the  godchild 
and  his  parents — cumdtru  to  the  latter,  na§  to  the  former 
— but  every  person  present  becomes  also  a  relative  to 
the  baby  and  to  each  other ;  they  all  become  cumdtri, 
and  to  a  degree  of  relationship,  too,  that  will  make 
impossible  any  subsequent  intermarriage  between  them. 
That  is  why  very  few  people  go  to  church  to  attend  the 
baptismal  ceremony.  This  is  done  by  the  priest  in  his 
robes  plunging  the  naked  baby  thrice  into  a  metal  vessel 
full  of  cold  water,  head  and  all,  at  which  it  yells  fiercely, 
and,  redder  than  a  lobster,  is  wrapped  in  the  crijma  (a 
piece  of  white  linen) ,  in  the  arms  of  the  sponsor ;  the 
anointment  with  holy  oils  follows,  and  at  last  the  baby 
is  given  Holy  Communion — during  which  it  ought  to 
cry,  and  if  it  forgets  to  do  so,  the  midwife  will  remind  it 
of  its  duty  with  a  smart  pinch.    All  through  the  cere- 


252         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

mony  the  godmother  or  father  holds  a  big  taper  in  the 
hand,  trimmed  with  flowers,  ribbons,  fine  tissues,  what- 
ever can  be  afforded.  Taper  and  baby  are  carried  back 
by  the  sponsor  and  handed  over  to  the  mother  with 
congratulations  and  suitable  good  wishes.  If  the  taper 
can  be  brought  home  burning,  it  means  luck  to  the 
baby.  The  sponsor  sticks  the  taper  into  white  bread, 
that  the  child's  heart  may  be  pure,  and  that  there  may 
be  abundance  in  the  house. 

Just  as  important  as  the  christening  is  the  next 
morning's  bathing  (scdlddtoarea),  when  the  holy  oils  are 
washed  off  the  child.  In  this  bath  a  few  coins  are 
dropped,  to  bring  the  new-born  one  riches,  along  with 
some  bread,  meant  to  bring  him  abundance,  and  some 
sweet-basil,  which  is  to  make  him  lovable. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  baptism,  if  not  on  the 
very  day,  the  parents  must  give  a  dinner,  the  cumdtria, 
with  as  much  rejoicing  as  possible,  and  rather  than  omit 
this  they  are  very  apt  to  run  into  debt.  The  sponsor 
then  takes  the  head  of  the  table ;  he  and  all  the  guests 
are  expected  to  put  on  the  table  more  or  less  money, 
according  to  means,  which  money  should  fairly  cover 
the  expenses  of  the  dinner.  Between  godfather  or 
mother,  (na§,  na§d),  and  godchild  (fin,  find),  a  strong  link 
of  relationship  has  been  established  through  the  baptism ; 
the  former  feel  always  obliged  to  protect  and  help  the 
latter,  while  the  latter  is  always  supposed  to  ask  advice 
from  and  pay  some  obedience  to  the  former,  and  have 
for  them  as  much  respect  as  he  is  expected  to  have 
for  his  parents.  On  the  second  day  of  Easter,  it  is 
considered  a  great  offence  if  the  child's  parents  do  not 
call  with  it  on  the  cumdtri,  bringing  them  dutiful  presents, 
a  lamb,  poultry,  or  at  least  the  never  failing  red  eggs  and 
pasca. 

If  a  mother  has  been  unfortunate  enough  to  see  her 
children  die  one  after  the  other,  then  the  last  new-born 
child  is  taken  to  church  and  deposited  on  the  door-step  ; 
the  future  godmother  is  at  hand :  she  pretends  to  just 
find  it,  and  takes  it  to  its  mother,  wha,  pretending  not  to 
recognise  it,  adopts  it  as  her  own.    In  some  places  the 


Carriers. 


[Fhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


Old  Decayed  Dwelling. 


tee  page  252. 


iPhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     253 

child  is  given  away  through  the  window  to  some  one  who 
takes  it  and,  bringing  it  to  the  door,  sells  it  to  the  mother 
for  a  penny. 

But  so  dreary  is  a  childless  house  felt  to  be,  that  if  a 
couple  have  no  child  of  their  own,  or  are  unable  to  rear 
any,   they  will  adopt  one,  take  it   **  for  the   soul,"   de 
suflet — a  sufletel,  a  little  soul,  it  is  called.    Moreover,  the 
adoption  of  a  strange  child  has  often  proved  apt  to  bring 
about   the   desired    blessing  of    a    child.     But   adopted 
children  have  another  drawback :    although   they  may 
turn  out  to  be  good  children  in  the  end,  this  does  not 
seem  to  be  the  rule,  but  rather  the  exception ;  and  if  as 
a  last  resource  adoption  is  resorted  to,  it  is  oftener  with 
distrust  and  anxiety  than  otherwise  ;  one  does  not  expect 
much  genuine  affection  from  an  adopted  child.    A  widely 
spread    anecdote    exists    on    this    subject.     A  childless 
couple  adopted  a  little  boy  and  reared  him  into  a  full- 
grown  man  ;  by  some  particular  bad  luck — owing  mostly 
to   his  own  wish — the  father  came  to  be  sentenced  to 
death,   although  not  in  the  least  guilty  in  reality.     He 
made  his  will,  leaving  half  of  his  money  to  his  adopted 
son,  the  other  half  to  his  executioner.     But  there  was  no 
hangman  in  that  place,  and  so  it  was  decided  to  fetch 
one  from  somewhere  else ;  but  the  adopted  son  came  and 
offered  to  hang  his  adoptive  father  himself.    Yet  dying 
without  progeny  seems  to  the  Roumanian  peasant  such  a 
misfortune  that  he  will  do  anything  rather  than  run  the 
risk  of  dying  alone,  of  having  nobody  to  ''  shut  his  eyes," 
to  take  the  responsibility  of  the  rituals  after  death  for 
the  repose  of  his  soul.     That  is  the  great  question,  the 
moment  of  death  and  the  cares  attached  to  it,  and  hence 
the  great  importance  of  children,  beyond  anything  else. 
And  mother  and  father  are  very  anxious  to  see  their 
children  grow  fast,  in  order  to  get  help  from  them ;  and 
that  comes  soon  enough,  for  the  age  of  ten  usually  finds 
the  boy,  whip  in  hand,  leading  the  oxen  at  the  plough, 
and  the  girl  with  the  (furca)  the  distaff  thrust  in  her 
small  girdle. 


254         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


II 

"Insuratul  de  t^nar 
§i  mancatul  de  diminea^a." 
("Wed  young,  eat  early.") 

A  boy  and  a  girl  are  not  accounted  grown  up  before 
their  first  dance.  Joaca/n  hord,  "  she  dances  at  the 
dance,"  is  said  of  a  girl  who  is  a  child  no  more.  She  is 
grown  up  now,  with  her  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age ; 
at  home  she  works  busily  at  her  zestrea  already,  learning 
from  her  mother  all  the  house-work  and  industry ;  at  the 
dance,  lavishly  got  up  with  flowers  and  ribbons  on  the 
head,  and  necklaces  of  beads  round  the  neck,  she  already 
casts  shy  looks  at  the  young  men,  whom  she  hardly  used 
to  take  notice  of  until  yesterday.  But  now  they  look 
very  important,  the  fldcdi  (the  swains)  and  they  also  look 
conqueringly  at  the  girls,  and,  ten  to  one,  in  more  than 
one  heart  love  has  sprung  up  from  the  first  dance.  The 
slender  figure,  the  charming  looks,  have  done  their 
work : — 

♦'  The  young  man  is  tall  and  slender, 
As  if  he  were  drawn  through  a  ring, 
To  love  him  at  heart's  content. 

The  fair  one  is  tall  and  slender, 
As  though  she  were  drawn  through  a  bead, 
To  love  her  at  heart's  content."* 

And  love  holds  a  large  place  in  the  Roumanian  peasant 
life ;  it  is  the  unavoidable  companion  of  youth : — 

"  Tiny  leaf  of  little  hazel, 
Whilst  man  is  still  young,f 

*  "Badiu-i  nalt  ^i  sub^irel 

Par'  ca-i  tras  printr'  un  inel 
Sa  te  tot  iube^ti  cu  el ! 
M4ndra-i  nalta,  sub^irea 
Par'  ca-i  trasa  prin  margea 
Sa  te  tot  iube^ti  cu  ea." 

f  "Frunzuli^a  de-alunel 
Cat  e  omul  tinerel 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     255 

Yearning  will  sit  by  his  side, 
As  th'  ewe  by  her  lamb. 
But  when  man  has  grown  old 
Yearning  will  depart.""^' 

Under  the  power  of  beauteous  and  bountiful  nature, 
the  splendid  skies  and  the  all-softening  temperature  of 
summer,  the  Eoumanian  peasant  is  much  addicted  to 
reverie;  the  newly  aroused  love  will  become  absorbing 
yearning ;  and  what  the  Roumanian  peasant  mostly  sings 
is  not  love,  dragoste  (also  amor),  but  this  yearning,  the 
dor : — 

"Green  leaf  of  three  oHves, 
He  who  has  no  yearning  on  earth 
May  come  to  have  some  from  me ; 
I  have  a  yeaarning  (big)  as  a  spring 
That  will  be  enough  for  all."f 

And  he  will  go  a  long  way  to  meet  his  love,  and  never 
spare  time  or  rest : — 

"He  who  has  no  love  in  the  vale, 
Knows  not  when  the  moon  does  rise, 
Neither  how  long  is  the  night. 
He  who  has  no  love  in  the  meadow 
Does  not  know  when  the  moon  sets. 
Nor  how  lengthy  the  night  isl"| 


*  Sade  dorul  Unga  el 
Ca  oi^a  langa  miel 
Dar  c4nd  omu'  mbatr&ne^te 
Dorul  se  calatore^te." 

f  "Frunza  verde  trei  alune 
Cine  n'  are  dor  pe  lume 
Vie  sa-i  dau  de  la  mine; 
Am  un  dor  cat  un  isvor 
Sa  le-ajunga  tuturor." 

J  •'  Cine  n'  are  dor  pe  vale, 
Nu  §ti'  luna  ctod  rasare 
§i  noaptea  c&tu-i  de  mare; 
Cine  n'  are  dor  pe  lunca 
Nu  ^iV  luna  cand  se  culca 
^\  noaptea  catu-i  de  lunga  1 ' 


256         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

But  if  our  lover  is  over-hasty,  and  ventures  to  proclaim 
himself  a  victor  too  soon,  then  he  may  easily  "  catch  it," 
but  will  nevertheless  sing  merrily  his  own  discomfiture — 

•'For  a  little  bit  of  kissing 
All  night  have  I  shivered; 
When  it  came  to  kissing  though, 
A  good  slap  I  have  got — 
And,  Lord,  what  a  pity  I  "  * 

But  once  sure  of  her  love,  the  young  Roumanian 
peasant  will  faithfully  cleave  to  her ;  no  human  power  is 
able  to  draw  him  away  : — 

"Mother  said  she  would  drag  me  off, 
From  how  many  things,  from  all; 
From  two  she  won't  be  able  to: 
From  the  fair  one  and  from  death!"  f 

If,  however,  love  was  not  returned — if  the  fair  one  were 
cruel  and  would  not  have  him — the  mother  would  do  her 
best  to  soften  his  sorrow  and  cheer  him  up,  but  his  heart 
is  set  on  the  one  fair  person,  and  no  other  will  ever  do : — 

"  '  Dear  mother's  Georgie, 

The  village  is  large,  girls  are  many, 

And  bigger  and  smaller  ones 

You  have  enough  to  choose  from.'  J 


*  "Pentru  'n  pic  de  samtat 
Toata  noapte  am  tremurat ; 
Cind  a  fost  la  sarutat 
Buna  palm'  am  capatat — 
D'aleu,'  Doamne,  ce  pacat  I  " 

f  *'Zis-a  mama  ca  m'  a  scoate 
De  la  cate  de  la  toate] 
De  la  doua  nu  ma  poate : 
De  la  mandra,  de  la  moarte  I 

J  " '  Dragu  mamii  Ghi^isor 
Satu-i  mare  fete-s  multe, 
^i  mai  mari  si  mai  marunte 
Ai  de  unde  sa-^i  alegi.' 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     257 

'Wait,  mother,  and  I'll  tell  you: 
The  sky  is  large,  the  stars  are  many, 
Both  large  and  smaller  ones, 

But  like  the  moon 

There  is  none  I  '"* 


Or  if  the  far-seeing  or  too  ambitious  mother  would  like 
another  choice  for  him,  he  will  hear  no  advice,  and 
remains  true  to  his  fair  one: — 


'  Oh,  dear  little  mother  mine, 
Do  you  not  see  what  I  wish? 
You  are  old  and  don't  agree 
The  world  is  large,  but  you  don't  see 
That  from  the  hundred  and  thousand 
One  alone  is  there  to  please  me! 
The  sky  is  large,  the  stars  are  many, 
The  bigger  and  also  the  smaller, 
But  as  bright  as  they  all  are 
They  are  not  as  fair  as  Litza  I "  f 


And  while  the  young  man  is  passing  through  his  pangs 
of  joy  or  woe,  the  girl  also  will  be  singing  her  own  love 
or  yearning,  attributing  it  at  first  to  sweet-basil,  the 
plant  of  love  : — 


*  '  Stai,  mama,  ^i  eu  ^i-oiu  spune ; 
Ceru-i  mare  stele-s  multe, 
^i  mai  mari  si  mai  marunte, 

Dar  ca  luna 

Nu-i  nici  una!'" 

f  "Vai  mamuca  draga  mea 
Nu  pricepi  tu  ce  a^  vrea? 
E^ti  batrana  §i  nu  crezi 
Lumea-i  larga  §i  nu  vezi 
Ca  din  suta  |i  din  mie 
Niunai  una-mi  place  mie  1 
Ceru-i  mare  stele-s  multe, 
^i  mai  mari  §i  mai  marunte, 
Dar  cat  sant  de  luminoase 
Nu-s  ca  Li^a  de  frumoasel" 
18 


258         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

"Basil,  may  you  never  ripen, 
And  never  have  any  seed, 
For  out  of  your  little  seed 
Love  has  been  squeezed  outl"* 

She  won't  give  in  easily  to  her  new  feeling;  she  will 
look  after  her  work  as  before,  but  now  and  then  fall  back 
on  her  favourite  thought,  her  feeling  overmastering 
her  little  by  little : — 

"Over  and  over  again  asks  my  heart. 
Do  I  feel  happy  or  not? 
And  I  say,  I  don't  feel  ill — 
My  tears  run  down  in  a  rill ! "  f 

And  a  time  will  come  when  work  will  fall  into  neglect ; 
the  love-stricken  girl  will  forget  all  about  it,  and 
people  will  notice  her  absent-mindedness,  and  account 
for  it : — 

"The  fair  one  walks  up  the  hill 
Spinning  her  silk 

On  the  spindle  she's  put  no  thread 
Looking  upon  a  sky's  cloud. 
Curse  upon  thee,  yearning  I"  J 

An  unhappy  lover  finds  alleviation  of  his  sorrow  in 
nothing  but  singing,  which  together  with  sighing  are  his 
only  solace,  their  weight  depressing  all  Nature,  too  : — 


"Busioace  nu  te-ai  coace 
^i  samdn^a  n'  ai  mai  face 
Ca  din  samincioara  ta 
S'a  scociorat  dragostea  I  " 

"  Mult  ma  'ntreaba  inima 
Bine  mi-i  mie  on  ba  ? 
^i  eu  zic  ca  nu  mi-i  rau — 
Lacrimele-mi  curg  parau  1  " 

"Suie  mandra  pe  colnic 
Easucind  la  burangic 
§i  pe  fus  n'a  pus  nimic 
Pe  cer  catand  dup'  im  nor. 
Bata-te  pustia,  dor  I  " 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     259 

"  For  my  very  heavy  sighs 
The  sun  himself  does  not  rise, 
Nor  has  the  moon  any  light, 
No  flower  grows  on  the  field  1 "  * 

And— 


"Whoever  invented  the  sigh 
Forgive  him,  O  God,  his  sins  I 
For  if  only  man  can  sigh 
His  heart  becomes  lighter."  f 

But  happy,  mutual  love,  far  from  putting  a  stop  to 
singing,  takes  the  whole  of  Nature  into  the  concert. 

"Green  leaf  of  little  apple, 
Down  there  by  the  spring 
Love  meets  with  love. 
And  so  beautiful  they  sing 
That  all  the  herbs  lie  down. 
And  the  glades  do  rustle 
And  the  leaves  do  shiver 
And  the  birds  gather  together 
Listening  to  the  songs."  | 


*  "De  oftat  ce-am  oftat  tare 
Nici  soarele  nu  rasare 
Nici  luna  lumina  n'are 
Nici  pe  camp  nu  cre^te-o  floare ! " 

f  "Cui  a  starnit  oftatul 
larta-i  doamne  pacatul 
Ca  omul  daca  ofteaza 
Inima-§i  mai  u^ureaza." 

I  "  Foaie  verde  meri^or 
Colo'n  vale  la  isvor 
Se'  nt^lne^te  dor  cu  dor 
^'a§a  canta  de  frumos 
Toata  iarba  culca  jos. 
^i  huesc  poienile 
$i  tremura  frunzele 
§i  se  Strang  paserile 
S'asculte  cantarile." 


260         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

And  the  lovers  mean  to  be  faithful  too,  for — 

"  Who  is  a  man  and  wants  to  know 
Love  is  not  a  mere  estate 
■That  you  may  take  it  on  lease."  * 

Quarrels  may  ensue  between  lovers,  often  the  outcome 
of  intriguing  from  outside  or  the  result  of  jealousy  and 
diifidence ;  then  the  lover  will  sing  in  vexation : — 

"Green  leaf  of  a  tulip, 
The  fair  one  went  by  on  the  causeway 
As  if  unaware  of  me ; 
But  what  business  have  I  (with  her)  ? 
Let  her  pass 
And  let  her  choose 
Let  her  choose  out  of  a  thousand. 
Only  that  he  be  like  me 
In  the  eyes  and  in  the  eye-brows, 
In  the  mouth  and  in  the  eye-lashes, 
And  also  in  my  love-making."  f 

Or  the  fretful  fair  one  may  take  the  strain : — 

"  Do  not  fancy,  master,  fancy, 
That  like  you  there  are  none. 
Like  you  there  are  a  thousand 
Only  I  do  not  want  them  I  "  J 

*  "  Cine-i  om  §i  vra  sa  ^tie 
Dragostea  nu  e  mo^ie 
Ca  sa  mi-o  iei  cu  chirie." 

f  "Frunza  verde  de  lalea, 
Trecea  mandra  pe  §u^ea 
Par'  ca  nici  nu  ma  vedea; 
Dar  ce  treaba  am  cu  ea? 
Las  'sa  treaca 
Sa-§i  aleaga 

Sa-§i  aleaga  dintr  'o  mie, 
Numai  sa-mi  semene  mie 
§i  la  ochi  §i  la  sprincene, 
^i  la  gura  §i  la  gene 
^i  la  dragostile  mele." 

I  "Nu  gandi  badeo,  gandi 
Ca  ca  tine  n'or  mai  fi. 
Ca  tine  sant  §i  o  mie 
Numai  nu-mi  trebue  mie." 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     261 

where  vexed  love  pierces  so  charmingly  through  would- 
be  contempt.  But  at  last  quarrels  are  made  up  again, 
and  misunderstanding  finds  a  ready  excuse  : — 

"Green  leaf  of  walnut  wood, 
Have  you  seen,  O  ever  seen 
A  high  hedge  without  a  shade, 
A  fair  maid  without  a  trouble  ? 
Have  you  seen,  O  ever  seen 
Any  high  fence  without  props 
A  handsome  man  without  faults  ?  "  * 

And  now,  when  a  suitor  offers  for  the  girl,  it  is  the 
parents'  right  to  choose  for  her,  and  her  own  taste  is 
consulted  only  last  of  all.  Traditional  duty  for  a  young 
girl  is  to  look  down  modestly,  and  answer  in  matters  of 
love  as  in  anything  else  :  "  As  father  and  mother  wish  !  " 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  girl  is  usually  a  good 
deal  spoilt  by  her  father,  and  if  both  parents  are  not 
always  ready  to  give  in  to  her  wishes,  as  far  as  taking  an 
undeserving  man  goes,  they  hardly  ever  will  oblige  her 
to  marry  against  her  inclination.  In  cases  of  wealthy 
suitors,  they  will  advise  her  strongly  not  to  turn  her  back 
upon  fortune,  but  she  will  protest  just  as  strongly  against 
the  disagreeable  suitor  : — 

"  Mother,  the  ugly  one  asks  me. 
Don't  give  me  against  my  liking; 
I  am  a  girl — I  am  nob  earth, 
I  feel  dislike  to  the  ugly  I"  f 


Frunza  verde  lemn  de  nuc 
Mai  vazut-a^i  mai  vazut 
Gard  inalt  fara  zaplaz 
Puiu  frumos  fara  nacaz  ? 
Mai  vazut-a|ii,  mai  vazut 
Gard  inalt  fara  propele 
Om  frumos  fara  gre^ele  ?  " 

Mama,  uratul  ma  cere, 
Nu  ma  da  fara  placere ; 
Ca  io-s  fata  nu-s  pamdnt, 
Nu  ma  'ndemn  dupa  urat  1 


262        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

All  her  life  will  be  an  endless  suffering  if  she  has 
married  against  her  inclination,  and  to  this  death  alone 
will  put  an  end : — 

"Black,  0  dear  Lord,  is  the  earth, 
But  still  blacker  is  dislike — 
From  a  man  it  will  unman  you. 
You  would  sleep,  and  are  not  sleepy, 
You  would  eat  and  are  not  hungry. 
You  just  wither  on  your  feet, 
Like  the  flower  of  chicory. 
Every  disease  has  a  cure, 
But  dislike  finds  none 
Save  only  in  the  fir-plank 
And  a  big  stone  at  the  head  1 "  * 

But  alas,  the  heart's  desire  is  not  always  to  be  had, 
and  the  fair  one  may  sometimes  have  occasion  sorrow- 
fully to  sing : — 

"If  only  God  had  ordered 
What  you  love  to  be  your  own, 
There  would  be  no  evil  on  earth. 
But  then  God  has  settled  it  that 
The  fair  is  to  mate  with  the  ugly 
That  she  may  have  a  worried  life  I "  f 

A  young  girl  has  no  greater  anxiety  than  as  to  what 
her  future,  her  part  in  life,  will  be,  and  that  is  why 

'^  "Negru-i,  Doamne,  pamantu 
Da-i  mai  negru  ur^tu 
Din  om  te  face  neom, 
C'ai  dormi  §i  nu  ^i-i  somn, 
Ai  manca  §i  nu  ^i-i  foame, 
Numai  te  u^ti  pe  picioare, 
Ca  ^i  floarea  de  cicoare. 
Toata  boala  are  leac 
Da  uratul  n'are  cap 
Fara  scandura  de  brad, 
§'o  piatra  mare  la  cap." 

f  "De-ar  fi  lasat  Dumnezeu 
Ce  iube^ti  sa  fie-al  tau 
N'ar  mai  fi  pe  lume  rau. 
Dumnezeu  a  randuit 
Sa  lea  m&ndru^a  ur&t 
Sa  aiba  traiii  nacajit  1 " 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     263 

repeatedly  she  will  turn  towards  the  Giver  of  all  good 
gifts,  and  with  ardent  entreaties  will  she  pray  : — 

"Do  with  me,  Lord,  what  you  like, 
But  give  me  not  what  I  dislike ! "  * 

Great  is  the  anxiety  of  youth  about  the  future,  and 
many  also  are  the  means  of  scrutinising  it.  St.  Andrew's 
Day,  Christmas  and  Epiphany  Eve,  New  Year,  are, 
amongst  all,  the  very  best  days  for  finding  out  the  future 
and  treating  of  love  affairs.  On  such  days  girls  will 
gather  together,  and  sometimes  boys  will  do  the  same, 
and  try  all  sorts  of  methods  in  order  to  discover  the  fate 
reserved  to  them,  especially  and  almost  solely,  in  regard 
to  love  matters.  Sweet-basil  is  an  all-powerful  plant 
in  such  dealings.  A  spray  of  sweet-basil,  stolen  from  the 
priest's  sprinkler  at  Christmas  Eve,  stuck  under  the  eaves 
and  left  there  through  the  night,  will  mean  great  good- 
luck  if  found  next  morning  covered  with  white  frost. 
Again,  sweet-basil  laid  at  the  foot  of  a  kerbstone,  if 
found  next  morning  covered  with  hoar  frost,  will  signify 
marriage  in  the  very  same  winter.  Another  foretelling 
plant  is  onion.  Every  girl  takes  one,  and  scooping  out 
the  middle,  fills  it  with  salt ;  all  the  onions  are  set  by  the 
window  till  next  morning — the  girl  who  find  most  water 
in  hers  will  have  the  best  luck.  A  girl  can  also  see  her 
future  husband  in  the  looking-glass.  After  a  complete 
fast  of  a  whole  day,  at  midnight  she  sets  two  looking- 
glasses  face  to  face  with  four  candles  between.  From 
the  back  of  one  of  the  looking-glasses  she  looks  into 
the  other  without  winking — after  a  while  the  "future" 
shows  himself  in  the  reflection  of  the  looking-glass.  But 
how  many  girls  can  afford  two  looking-glasses  and  so 
many  candles?  The  poor  girl  has,  however,  a  means 
of  seeing  her  future  husband  :  she  thoroughly  scours  and 
sweeps  the  house,  plasters  the  floor,  makes  her  beautifully 
straight  hrie  round  the  hearth,  and  on  the   first  cock's 

*  "Fa-ma,  Doamne,  ce  mi-i  face 
Numai  nu-mi  da  ce  nu-mi  place." 


264         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

crow  she  looks  intently  at  the  door,  broom  in  hand ;  the 
"  future's  "  image  will  not  tarry  to  appear  in  the  door- 
way. If  her  heart  is  already  set  on  some  flacau,  she  will 
take  two  pig's  bristles,  one  personating  herself,  the  other 
the  beloved  swain,  and  after  carefully  sweeping  the  ashes 
from  the  hot  hearth,  she  lays  the  two  bristles  side  by  side. 
If  they  curl  towards  each  other,  she  will  have  him  ;  if  the 
hairs  curve  away  from  each  other,  she  must  give  up  all 
hope  about  him.  Various  means  there  are  also  for  seeing 
the  "future"  in  one's  dreams,  which  are  used  on  these 
special  holy  days. 

And  there  are  many  incantations  in  verse  and  prose,  by 
which  skilful  babas  will  help  a  girl  or  a  young  man  in 
their  love  affairs ;  and  illicit  witchcraft  is  said  to  be  some- 
times used,  to  bring  about  an  otherwise  impossible 
wedding ;  and  some  people  believe  that  an  old  witch  is 
able  to  bring  the  sought-for  lover  astride  on  a  rod,  flying 
through  the  air — although  all  the  stories  I  could  gather 
on  the  subject  related  to  remote  times,  when  our  grand- 
fathers were  young  ! 

At  all  events,  whatever  a  girl's  attractions  may  be,  she 
should  never  be  without  sweet-basil ;  moreover,  if  she 
has  been  careful  to  grow  her  own  ** love-sweet-basil" 
(busioc  de  dragoste),  she  is  quite  sure  of  being  irresistible. 
The  love-basil  is  sown  with  the  mouth  on  St.  George's 
morning,  and  then  watered  daily  with  water  brought  in 
the  mouth  at  dawn,  until  it  comes  out.  A  spray  of  this 
plant,  thrust  into  the  girdle  or  the  hair  of  a  favourite  young 
man,  is  sure  to  bring  him  round  in  a  short  time.  Another 
influential  plant  in  love  matters  is  the  fern  (navalnic),  a 
herb  apt  to  bring  on  a  veritable  invasion  (ndvdlire)  of 
lovers ! 

Although  the  popular  saying  goes : — 

"As  to  marriage  and  out-at-elbows,  no  one  shall  complain" — ^* 

SO  sure  it  is  to  come — yet  it  seems  that  the  chief,  the 
only  aim  in  life   for   a   young   girl    is  no  other  than 

*  "De  maritat  fi  de  coate  goale  sa  nu  se  pl4nga  nimene." 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     265 

marriage.  Indeed,  an  unmarried  woman  is  hardly  ever 
to  be  met  with  in  the  peasant  class,  and  is  also  an 
extremely  rara  avis  even  among  the  upper  classes  ;  such 
are  considered  as  rather  ridiculous  beings,  and  it  is  not  at 
all  rare  that  many  a  girl  will  marry  without  the  slightest 
regard  to  her  own  heart  or  taste,  in  order  merely  to  escape 
the  ridicule  of  remaining  an  old  maid,  making  a  sacrifice 
of  her  soul  and  of  her  body  to  a  foolish  unjust  prejudice. 

Wealth  undeniably  plays  its  part  in  bringing  about 
marriages : — 

"Vineyard  and  land 
Will  marry  the  horror."  * 

Nevertheless,  in  the  humble  classes,  love  is  much  more 
taken  into  consideration,  and  be  it  imputed  to  incanta- 
tions or  not,  will  work  its  bewitching  effect.  One  of  the 
most  popular  songs  to  be  heard  among  all  the  Roumanians, 
I  am  told,  relates  the  struggle  of  love  thus : — 

1.  Green  leaf  blade  of  mallows  (bis) 
Rise,  0  moon,  the  sooner,  (bis) 

2.  To  light  up  the  meadow,  that  (bis) 
I  may  mow  wormwood  and  herb, 
For  the  fair  one  to  untie  me. 

8.  Undo,  dear,  what  you  have  done  (bis) 
And  do  let  me  free  to  go. 
And  I'll  give  you  a  full  piaster. f 


*  "Viea  ^i  mo^iea 
Marita  urgiea." 

t  1.  "Foaie  verde  fir  de  nalba  (bis) 
Rasai  luna  mai  degraba  (bis) 

2.  Sa  se  vada  In  livada  (bis) 
Sa  cosasc  pelin  ^i  iarba 

Sa  dau  puicai  sa-mi  desfaca. 

3.  Desfa  puica,  ce-ai  facut  (bis) 
§i-mi  da  drumul  sa  ma  due 
Ca  ^i  oiii  da  un  leu  batut. 


266 


FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


4.  You  may  give  even  ten  piasters  (bis) 
I  did  not  do  this  for  you  to  die 
But  for  you  to  wed  me."  * 


Andante.     M.M.  J  = 

=  126. 

crei. 

r~w 1 

r-f p-^ 

m       m 

_ 

:^4.ti=^    ^    ^*- 

\4=i=^ 

=M^ 

p — n 

=t^t^- 

= 

i 


Foa  -  ie  ver-de     fir  de  nal-ba,    foa  -  ie    ver  -  de     fir   de 
rTs  ^  dim. 


j=g 


nal 


i 


ba  Ea  -  sai 

pp  poco  rail. 


lu  -  na. 


mai    de- 


V-^i-i^ 


^ 


gra  •  ba,        ra-sai   lu-na      mai de    -    -    gra  -  ba. 


Ill 

"  Until  he  is  twenty  years  of  age,  a  young  man  is 
married  by  his  parents ;  until  twenty-five,  he  marries 
of  his  own  free  will ;  between  twenty-five  and  forty  the 
babas  marry  him,  but  after  thirty  the  devil  alone  will 
do  it ! " 

"  Marry  young,"  was  the  old  formula  when  the  parents 
were  in  a  great  hurry,  as  soon  as  they  had  a  marriageable 
boy  or  girl,  to  **  send  them  to  their  own  house "  {sd-i 
deie  la  casa  lor) .  But  this  hasty  usage  seems  to  be  losing 
ground  as  time  goes  on,  with  the  increasing  difficulties 
and  responsibilities  of  family  life;  and  this  is  so, 
especially  with  the  regular  army  service,  which  calls 
every  young  man  to  draw  lots  at  one-and-twenty,  and 
go  through  his  training  as  a  soldier  for  five  or,  at  least, 
three  years.  Not  that  the  young  men  married  by  parents 
were  always  happy. 

"  Hush,  cock,  for  father  may  get  you  married  too  I "  f 


*  4.  Bat^r  sa-mi  dai  zece  lei  (bis) 
Nu  ^i-am  facut  ca  sa  piei 
Ci  ^i-am  facut  sa  ma  iei  1  " 

f  "  H4ci,  cuco^,  ca  te  insoara  tata  ^i  pe  tine ! " 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     267 

is  the  vexed  utterance  of  a  very  young  husband  as  re- 
ported through  tradition.  Though  the  young  people  may 
fall  in  love  with  each  other,  or  may  arrange  their  own 
future,  the  wedding  business  itself  is  left  in  the  hands 
of  the  parents.  Generally,  the  son  will  declare  his 
intentions  to  his  mother  first,  who  will  then  carefully 
break  the  news  to  the  rather  severe  father,  for  whom  the 
respect  of  children  and  wife  is  often  mixed  with  awe. 
If  he  does  not  say  no,  then  they  will  begin  to  scan  the 
genealogical  tree  of  both  families  to  find  out  whether 
the  young  people  are  related  to  each  other,  which  fact 
would  be  a  serious  impediment  to  marriage.  The  father 
will  take  his  son  apart  and  give  him  the  advice  of  wisdom 
as  to  the  step  he  is  going  to  enter  upon,  and  try  to  bring 
home  to  him  all  the  responsibilities  he  is  taking  upon 
himself;  then  two  respectable  men  of  the  village  are 
sought  after  and  entrusted  with  the  charge  of  proposing 
to  the  girl's  parents  ;  they  are  called  the  pefitori  or  the 
starosti  and  they  go  impetit,  taking  under  their  pro- 
tection the  young  suitor.  The  pe^ire  is  done  in  more  or 
less  allegorical  manner,  according  to  region  and  people. 
At  the  entering  of  the  petitori,  if  the  girl's  father  looks 
cheerful  and  puts  another  log  on  the  burning  fire,  it  is 
a  sign  that  he  is  in  good  spirits  and  ready  for  the 
transaction ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  smothers  the  fire, 
this  means  that  he  is  not  well  disposed  towards  the 
suspected  message,  and  that  the  petitori  will  have  hard 
work  to  get  the  best  of  him.  At  all  events,  formalism 
is  strong  here,  and  all  the  time  he  will  look  as  if  he  knew 
absolutely  nothing  about  the  business  of  the  visitors 
until  these  have  delivered  the  proposal,  which  consists 
in  a  more  or  less  allegorical  speech  in  prose  or  verse, 
often  preceded  by  an  introductory  tale  of  a  biblical 
nature.  The  father  of  the  girl  will  generally  pretend 
that  he  is  not  prepared,  that  he  has  not  thought  of 
marrying  his  daughter  yet,  that  the  dowry  is  not  ready, 
and  thus  suggest  all  sorts  of  lame  impediments.  But 
the  petitori  will  insist,  alleging  that  dowry  is  not  the 
most  important  point,  and  that  "  for  wedding  and  for 
death  one  is  never  ready,"  and  so  on.     The  man  begins 


268         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

to  give  in  ;  he  will  ask  his  wife's  opinion  too,  but  she  will 
humbly  answer  that,  of  course,  he  knows  best,  and  then 
some  one  will  go  in  search  of  the  girl  to  ask  her  opinion 
also,  who,  if  she  happen  not  to  know  the  suitor  before- 
hand— a  case  very  rarely  met  with  now — will  be  looking 
through  some  chink  in  the  door,  or  from  behind  the  oven, 
trying  to  make  out  what  he  is  like.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
matter  of  the  dowry  is  settled.  How  much  land  does  the 
young  man  possess ;  will  he  get  the  site  for  a  house  to  be 
built  on ;  how  many  head  of  cattle ;  even,  how  many 
suits  of  clothes  has  he  ?  For  the  girl's  dowry  is  made  of 
all  her  handy  work  in  the  way  of  wool,  hemp,  flax,  silk 
or  cotton  wefts,  all  carefully  reckoned  in  yards,  or,  if  she 
is  rich,  then  only  by  rolls  (valuri)  of  weft ;  she  will  get 
cattle,  oxen  and  cart,  and,  possibly,  land  also.  The  girl's 
parents  are  anxious  to  give  their  daughter  as  honourable 
a  dowry  as  may  be,  in  order  to  save  her  from  possible 
gossip,  of  from  still  more  possible  censure  from  her  future 
mother-in-law.  When  both  parties  declare  themselves 
well  pleased,  a  bottle  of  whisky  is  brought  in  for  the 
cinste  (the  treat),  everybody  taking  a  draught  in  turn  with 
suitable  greetings,  often  followed  by  a  short  collation 
of  a  roasted  hen  or  so,  during  the  preparation  of  which 
the  inclinations  of  the  young  people  have  once  more  been 
thoroughly  tested,  and  a  kind  of  promise  has  been  made 
between  them,  by  the  girl  giving  the  young  man  a 
handkerchief  and  receiving  from  him  money. 

A  few  days  later  the  parents  of  the  young  girl  will  call 
on  the  young  man's  parents,  to  settle  definitely  about  the 
wedding ;  if  they  are  living  in  another  village  they  will 
drive  in  a  cart  drawn  by  oxen,  in  company  with  several 
relations  or  friends,  the  mother  always  on  the  alert  for 
the  good  or  bad  omens  they  may  meet  with,  and  from 
which  the  happiness  or  bad  luck  of  her  daughter  are  to 
be  augured.  On  their  arrival,  they  are  met  at  the  gate, 
wide  open  for  them;  fodder  is  given  to  the  oxen,  the 
visitors  are  asked  in,  and  led  on  to  indifferent  talk  on 
all  sorts  of  topics  except  the  burning  one.  Some  of  the 
men  will  walk  out  and  just  look  round  about  the  yard, 
to  take  in  the  real  status  of  the  man's  wealth.  The 
day  of  the  betrothal  (the  mcredinfare  or  logodna)  is  fixed. 


Bleaching  the  Linen. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


To  face  page  269. 


Washing  Women. 


iPhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     269 

On  the  betrothal  day  great  preparations  go  on  in  the 
bride's  house :  thorough  cleaning  and  scouring  and 
baking  and  cooking.  The  friends  have  met,  the  pefitori 
arrive.  Some  man  of  reputed  virtue  and  wisdom  takes 
the  two  young  people  apart,  and  after  a  new  recital  of 
the  catalogue  of  the  evils,  much  more  numerous  than  the 
pleasures,  of  married  life,  asks  once  more  for  their  views, 
sure  that  they  are  quite  decided  upon  the  impending 
union.  A  plate  of  corn  is  brought  in,  mixed — in  moun- 
tainous districts  especially — with  hemp-seed;  the  whole 
is  spread  over  with  salt,  some  lumps  of  sugar  are  added, 
to  make  Hfe  sweet,  together  with  a  few  sprays  of  sweet- 
basil  ;  the  father  adds  some  coins,  and  then  the  rings 
of  the  young  people  are  hidden  underneath.  These  turn 
round  the  plate  and  seek  out  each  other's  ring ;  outside 
rifle  or  pistol  shots  celebrate  the  happy  event.  The  rings 
are  put  on  the  fourth  finger  of  the  left  hand  of  the  young 
betrothed  by  the  old  man.  Musical  assistance  is  called 
in — a  fiddle  and  a  lute  at  the  least — and  a  dance  is 
started,  interrupted  only  by  the  supper,  at  which  the 
most  conspicuous  dish  is  a  roasted  hen,  which  the  bride- 
groom is  to  carve  with  his  own  hand,  showing  thus  his 
ability,  cleverness  and  spirit ;  to  make  more  fun  the  hen 
is  often  sewn  with  strong  thread,  and  brought  in  ex- 
tremely hot.  In  such  predicaments  the  bridegroom  is 
very  apt  to  show  his  temper  if  he  has  not  good  command 
of  it !  A  young  man  is  allowed  to  look  silly  and  awkward 
in  talk ;  this  is  rather  expected  from  him,  being  youthful, 
and  therefore  shy ;  but  if  he  is  awkward  with  his  hands, 
too,  this  would  be  matter  of  serious  consideration  for  the 
bride's  parents. 

At  parting  the  bridegroom's  party  pretend  to  take 
away  the  bride,  and  in  some  parts  she  really  is  taken 
away,  and  stays  with  the  bridegroom  and  his  family  till 
the  wedding.  In  most  places,  however,  the  taking  away 
is  a  mere  pretence,  after  which  she  is  left  to  go  home 
with  her  parents,  but  still  under  the  protection  of  some 
trusted  man  of  her  own  party. 

The  time  between  betrothal  and  wedding — generally 
three  weeks,  because  of  the  strigdri,  the  banns  to  be 


270         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

published  on  three  consecutive  Sundays  or  holidays  at 
church — is  spent  in  preparations,  cutting  out,  sewing, 
washing,  baking,  &c.  The  girls  who  help  will  make 
up  the  bride's  corUge — they  are  dru§te.  The  nuni  (the 
sponsors)  are  then  looked  for ;  if  possible,  the  godfather 
and  godmother  of  one  of  the  two  young  people — four 
sponsors  are  very  rare.  They  are  called  upon  with 
presents  and  begged  to  crown  {sd  cunune),  that  is  to  say, 
to  be  sponsors  for  the  young  couple,  to  which  they 
usually  willingly  consent,  considering  it  a  duty  as  well 
as  an  honour.  The  documents  are  prepared  at  the 
mayor's  in  the  meantime,  which,  although  it  is  legally 
the  most  important  part  of  the  marriage,  is  looked  upon 
by  the  peasants  as  a  mere  formality,  binding  to  nothing. 
The  band  is  engaged,  for  no  wedding  could  ever  be 
thought  of  without  music  and  dancing ;  the  necessary 
shoppings  are  made  at  the  nearest  town.  The  bridegroom 
then  appoints  his  train,  of  which  the  most  important 
figures  are  the  vornicei  or  conacari,  or  else  colacari, 
the  leaders  of  the  dance,  the  representatives  of  the 
bridegroom,  the  smartest  among  the  young  men  in  the 
village. 

The  wedding  itself  lasts  not  less  than  three  days — in 
old  times  boiars'  weddings  used  to  last  seven  days — and 
is  usually  celebrated  in  autumn  when  the  wine  is  in,  but 
may  also  be  carried  out  in  spring  or  winter ;  summer 
would  seem  to  be  a  quite  improper  time,  being  the  great 
labour  season.  The  only  suitable  days  for  a  wedding  are 
Sunday  and  Thursday,  the  latter,  however,  mostly  for 
second  marriages.  Practically,  the  wedding  business 
begins  on  the  Thursday  before  the  appointed  Sunday, 
when  the  baking  preparations  are  begun,  for  there  is  a 
lot  of  bread,  and  colaci,  and  malai  to  be  got  ready  for 
the  wedding  dinner  and  other  meals.  The  very  grind- 
ing of  the  corn,  the  bolting  of  the  flour,  the  kneading 
of  the  dough,  and  putting  it  into  the  oven,  are  done 
according  to  prescribed  rules — not  like  any  other  ordinary 
baking  affair — but  with  much  cheerfulness  and  fun, 
and  very  varied  rules,  according  to  the  longitude  and 
latitude  from  Carpathian  to  Pindus. 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     271 

On  Saturday  the  real  wedding  is  entered  upon.  On 
Saturday  morning,  in  some  parts,  the  bride  and  her 
druste  will  walk  out  to  the  wood  and  bring  home  flowers 
which  are  set  in  water  to  keep  fresh.  In  the  middle  of 
the  room  a  table  is  laid  with  a  clean  tablecloth  on  it ;  in 
the  middle  of  the  table  four  big  colaci  are  set  on  top  of 
each  other,  with  a  lump  of  salt  in  the  hollow  middle 
wrapped  in  a  handkerchief,  meant  to  be  given  by  the  bride 
to  the  bridegroom,  but  which  then  is  given  back  by  him 
to  the  bride  after  the  coronation ,  the  wedding,  and 
which  she  carefully  lays  by  at  the  bottom  of  her  box,  to 
be  taken  out  again  only  to  cover  her  face  when  she  is 
dead.  These  things  ready,  the  flowers  are  then  attended 
to,  twisted  together  in  a  garland,  a  cunund,  with  a  fine 
penny  piece  at  each  of  the  four  sides,  and  then  set  on 
the  head  of  the  bride,  who  will  thus  wait  for  the  bride- 
groom. 

In  the  meanwhile,  on  the  same  Saturday,  at  the  bride- 
groom's house  cooking  is  going  on  too  ;  his  friends  come 
with  music  ;  he  is  seated  on  a  chair  in  the  middle  of  the 
room,  where  his  toilet  is  attended  to :  he  is  shaved,  his 
hair  trimmed  and  combed,  while  his  mother  and  sisters 
are  crying  as  bitterly  as  they  can.  He  puts  on  his  best 
suit,  and  then  with  his  party  starts  for  the  bride's  house, 
often  one  of  his  party  carrjdng  a  small  pine-tree  adorned 
with  gilt  paper  and  fruit.  Some  women  (cdlfundresele) 
carry  the  presents  for  the  bride.  If  the  bride  lives  in 
another  village,  the  men  will  ride,  the  women  drive.  At 
the  other  end  they  meet  with  the  bride's  party  of  men, 
on  horseback  too,  and  a  race  will  take  place  between 
both  parties.  "When  there  is  to  be  a  wedding,  the 
horses  weep  three  days  beforehand,"  and  good  reason  they 
have  to. 

When  the  bridegroom's  party  arrives  at  the  bride's 
house  the  yard  is  packed  with  people ;  the  vornicel  is 
stopped  at  the  gate  or  at  the  door,  where  he  delivers  his 
rhymed  speech — his  ora^ie  or  condcdrie.  These  condcdrii 
or  orafii  are  very  varied  and  usually  of  considerable 
length ;  the  following  is  one  of  the  simplest : — 


272         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

" '  Good-day  to  this  honoured  gathering, 
And  to  the  honoured  parents-in-law  I 
How  do  you  do? 
How  are  you?' 

*  Thank  God  we  are  well.' 

'But  please  to  deliver  your  errand. 
What  are  you  looking  for  here  ?  ' 

*  What  we  are  coming  for 
And  what  we  are  seeking 
Eight  will  we  tell  you, 

For  we  have  fear  of  nobody. 
Where  we  are  coming  from 

We  know. 
And  where  we  are  going  to 

Also. 
For  we  are  imperial  messengers, 
Good  men,  godly  men, 
And  we  have  imperial  orders 
To  be  stopped  by  nobody. 
Hence,  you  are  requested 
To  listen  attentively 
While  we  speak 
And  deliver  our  message.* 


*  "  '  Buna  vremea  la  cinstita  adunare 
§i  la  cinsti^i  socri  mari 

Cum  trai^i 

Cum  va  afla^i? 
'Mila  Domnului,  ne  aflam  bine.' 
Dar  §i  D-voastra  sama  sa  va  da^i 
*Pe  la  noi  ce  cauta^i? 
*Noi  ce  umblam 
^i  ce  cautam 
Sama  bine  ne  vom  da, 
Frica  nimarui  nu  purtam. 
De  imde  venim, 

^tim 
§i  unde  mergem 

Cunoaftem, 
Ca  noi  santem  soli  imparate^ti 
Oameni  buni,  dumnezeie^ti 
§i  avem  porunca'  mparateasca 
Nime  sa  nu  ne  opreasca. 
Deci  D-voastra  sante^i  ruga^i. 
Bine  sa  ne  ascultati 
Cand  om  cuvinta 
§i  sama  ne  om  da. 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     273 

Our  young  emperor 

Summoned  us  one  evening 

And  gave  us  the  following  order : 

"  Mind  you,  gather  troops  and  braves, 

With  hatchets,  and  big  and  small, 

And  I  wish  to  go  hunting 

After  yellow  little  birds 

And  tame  little  does ! " 

We  all  submitted. 

And  a-hunting  we  went. 

But  towards  evening  the  emperor 

Noticed  a  light  foot-print 

Of  a  nimble  fawn; 

Some  said 
It  was  the  track  of  a  paradise  bird 
For  our  emperor's  happy  life; 

Others  said 
It  was  the  trace  of  a  fairy, 
To  be  the  emperor's  garden 
Full  of  beautiful  fruit. 
Then  the  fair  emperor 
In  golden  stirrup  he  rose  ; 
Upon  his  fine  host  he  looked  * 


Al  nostru  tanar  imparat 
De  cu  sara  ne-a  chemat 
§i  aceasta  porunca  ne-a  dat: 
"  Sa  strange^i   cete  de  voinici 
Cu  topoare  mari  §i  mici, 
Ca  sa  fac  o  vinatoare 
De  paseri  galbioare 
De  blande  caprioare  !  " 
Noi  cu  to^ii  ne-am  supus, 
La  vanatoare  ne-am  dus. 
lar  imparatul  in  desara 
Zari  o  urma  u^oara 
De  sprintena  fieara. 

Unii  zisera 
Ca-i  urma  de  pasere  de  raiii; 
Sa  fie  imparatului  de  bun  traiii; 

Al^ii  zisera 
Ca-i  urma  de  zina, 
Sa  fie  imparatului  gradina 
De  frumoase  roduri  plina. 
Atunci  m^ndrul  nostru  'mparat 
In  scari  de  aur  s'a  ridioat, 
Feste  mSindra-i  caste  a  catat 

19 


274         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

And  said: 
"Who  will  be  able 
To  hunt  up  a  fawn 
And  track  her  on  her  trail, 
And  then  to  bring  an  answer?  " 
Then  we  sorted  ourselves 
And  started  on  the  spot 
From  track  to  track 
Like  a  herdsman  after  a  flock; 
And  coming,  we  three  braves. 
And  arriving  in  this  place, 
With  the  breath  of  the  wind 
Over  the  face  of  the  earth 
We  saw  falling  on  a  house 
A  fine  and  bright  star; 
We  saw  also  a  little  flower 
Finer  even  than  the  star 
Which  blossoms  with  the  flowers 
But  which  bears  no  fruit. 
Our  emperor  wants  her 
And  has  sent  us  after  her 
To  bring  her  to  him  as  bride 
To  make  her  his  empress.' "  * 


*  ^i  a  zis: 
"'Cine-a  fi  'n  stare 
Sa  prinda  o  fiara 
^i  pe  urma  -i  sa  se  duca 
$i  raspuns  apoi  s'  aduca  ? ' 
Atunci  noi  ne-am  ales 
^i  de  loc  am  purees, 
Din  urma  'n  urma 
Ca  pastorul  dupa  turma; 
^i  viind  noi  trei  voinici 
^i  ajungand  pana  aici, 
Cu  suflarea  vantului 
Pe  fata  pamantului, 
Am  zarit  cazind  pe-o  casa 
O  stea  mandra,  luminoasa  ; 
^'am  mai  vazut  o  floricea 
Mai  mandra  decat  o  stea, 
Care  in  flori  inflore^te 
Dar  de  rodit  nu  rode^te. 
Imparatul  nostru  o  vrea 
§i  ne-a  trimes  dupa  ea, 
Ca  sa  i-o  aducem  mireasa 
Sa  §i-o  faca  imparateasa.'  " 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     275 

During  the  ora^ia  the  bride  is  surrounded  by  her  dru§te, 
having  a  pail  of  water  and  a  big  colac  beside  her.  At  the 
end  she  will  take  the  pail  and  gracefully  pour  away  the 
water  round  her,  besprinkling  with  as  much  spirit  as  she 
can  the  young  men  round  her  ;  she  breaks  the  colac  and 
distributes  it  all  round.  Fine  handkerchiefs  are  tied  to 
the  horses'  bridles,  and  one  of  the  bride's  vornicei  joining 
the  party,  they  return  to  the  bridegroom,  who  now  puts 
together  the  presents  for  the  bride  in  a  bolter,  and  cover- 
ing them  with  a  fine  napkin,  sends  them  to  her  by  the 
vornicei  and  suite  again.  The  handing  over  of  the  presents 
is  again  accompanied  by  a  long  recital,  inchinare,  with 
enumeration  of  the  presents  which,  the  vornicei  pretends, 
the  bridegroom  has  gone  to  fetch  from  Constantinople, 
and  after  shipwreck  and  no  end  of  troubles  has  at  last 
succeeded  in  bringing  them. 

When  the  bride  puts  out  her  hand  to  take  the  offered 
presents,  the  vornicei  swiftly  draws  them  back,  in  order  to 
tease  her  a  Httle,  and  make  the  company  laugh  at  her 
expense : — 

"  Wait  a  bit, 
Lady  bride, 
Do  not  be  in  a  hurry  with  taking 
As  you  have  been  with  wedding, 
Although  sir  bridegroom  too 
Has  been  over-hasty  to  wed  you 
For  fear  another  might  get  you  1 

Well  now,  please 
Put  out  your  hand  * 


*  "  la  mai  Ingadue 
Jupaneasa  mireasa: 
Nu  te  grabi  cu  luatul 
Cum  te-ai  grabit  cu  maritatul, 
Cu  toate  ca  si  jup&n  mirele 
S'a  prea  grabit  cu  insuratul 
Ca  sa  nu  te-apuce  altull 

Ei,  poftim  acuma, 
Pune  mana, 


276        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

And  take  them  heartily 

And  look  somewhat  more  cheerfully, 

For  you  have  to  set  off  to  your  own  house  1 "  * 

The  presents  are  tendered,  and  passed  on  from  hand  to 
hand.  Now  the  turn  of  the  bride  has  come  ;  she  gives  the 
presents  for  the  bridegroom  to  her  own  vornicel,  who, 
followed  by  his  suite,  carries  them  to  the  bridegroom,  to 
whom  he  also  offers  them  with  the  recitation  of  the  due 
inchinare.    Here,  the  refreshments  served  are  wine  and 


Upon  the  arrival  of  dinner-time,  the  bridegroom  and 
party  are  invited  to  the  bride's  house.  They  come 
dancing,  the  dance  being  led  by  the  vornicel  who,  besides 
other  accomplishments,  must  be  a  first-rate  dancer. 
Whilst  these  are  approaching,  the  bride's  party  also 
organise  a  dance,  disposed  in  such  a  way  that  all  the 
entrances  of  the  house  are  guarded,  the  young  men 
clasping  ach  others'  hands  so  that  nobody  can  break 
in.  The  two  parties  dance  face  to  face,  each  of  the  two 
leading  vornicel  doing  his  best  to  deceive  the  other,  and 
by  some  stratagem  to  master  the  field.  If  not  successful 
by  dance  and  cunning  in  undoing  one  another,  they  will 
try  fair  fighting,  but  when  neither  succeeds,  the  sponsor 
of  the  bridegroom  (the  nunul-mare)  pays  a  fee  to  the 
bride's  party  and  they  are  all  let  in. 

After  dinner  the  cart  with  four  oxen  is  driven  to 
the  front  door  to  be  loaded  vdth  the  zestrea  (the  dowry), 
the  trousseau.  A  trunk  or  two,  full  of  all  sorts  of  linen, 
of  towels,  napkins,  tablecloths,  and  under-garments,  then 
carpets,  rugs,  pillows,  &c.  After  much  struggle  and 
dance,  and  wear  and  tear,  the  things  are  carried  out  to  the 
sound  of  the  untiring  music.  But  when  it  comes  to  the 
trunks  two  of  the  bride's  party  will  stand  at  the  door 
and  stick  their  knives  crosswise  in  the  door-posts  and 
never  allow  them  to  cross  over  the  threshold  unless 
the  nunul-mare  has  paid  a  fee.    In  some  place  the  dowry 

*  §i  prime^te  cu  toata  inima 
$i  cata  mai  voioasa 
C'ai  pleoat  spre  a  d-tale  oasa ! " 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     277 

is  taken  to  the  bridegroom's  house  only  on  Sunday 
morning.  After  the  cart  with  the  bride's  belongings 
has  driven  aside  from  the  door,  seats  are  put  out  for  the 
parents  and  nearest  relatives,  and  carpets  are  spread 
in  front,  on  which  the  young  pair  have  to  kneel  down, 
to  ask  the  parental  blessing  before  setting  out ;  whilst 
they  do  it,  a  vornicel  stands  on  their  right  and  pronounces 
a  recitation  of  forgiveness,  a  long  piece  of  verse,  in 
which  he  begins  from  the  very  creation  to  explain  that 
man  may  sin,  that  youths  are  apt  to  make  mistakes,  but 
that  parents  must  forgive.  Whisky  is  handed  round, 
and,  as  the  couple  and  their  friends  set  out,  the  musicians 
will  sing : — 

"Be  quiet,  bride,  and  cry  no  more, 
For  to  thy  mother  I'll  bring  thee 
"When  the  poplar  will  bear  apples 
And  the  willow  egriots."  * 

At  which  song,  if  the  bride  had  no  mind  to  cry  before, 
she  is  sure  to  begin  now.  But  a  bride  always  cries ;  it 
would  be  very  improper  if  she  did  not ;  it  would  be  unlucky. 
She  steps  into  the  cart  or  on  horseback,  and  the  whole 
party  starts  for  the  bridegroom's  house,  where  again 
various  formalities  are  accomplished  for  the  reception  of 
the  bride.  The  zestrea  is  brought  in,  with  dancing  again, 
while  the  musicians  sing  merry,  humorous  songs  to  the 
soacra-mare  (the  bridegroom's  mother)  to  predict  for 
her  all  the  troubles  her  daughter-in-law  is  to  bring  upon 
her,  and  also  foretelling  to  the  bride  dreadful  things  at 
the  hands  of  her  future  husband.  They  sit  down  to 
dinner  in  due  order;  afterwards,  some  of  the  guests  go 
out  to  dance  in  the  yard,  while  the  rest  remain  in  the 
house  to  get  the  peteala  (the  gold-thread)  ready,  by 
arranging  it  in  long,  thin  skeins,  to  be  put  on  the  bride's 
head,  and  hang  streaming  down  her  back.     All  the  time 


Taci  mireasa,  nu  mai  plange, 
Ca  la  maica-ta  te-oiu  duce 
Cand  a  face  plopul  mere 
§i  rachita  vi§inele." 


278         FEOM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  music  goes  on  with  songs,  partly  sad,  partly  merry. 
All  Saturday  night  they  dance  and  amuse  themselves 
at  the  bridegroom's  house;  at  dawn  they  all  go  home 
to  sleep  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  on  Sunday  morning  they 
again  gather  to  make  the  preparations  for  church. 

On  Sunday  morning  the  party  assembles  early  at 
the  bridegroom's  house ;  one  of  them  says  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  then  they  set  out  to  fetch  the  sponsors.  There 
the  nuna-mare  adorns  with  flowers  two  big  white  wax 
tapers,  usually  with  roses,  white  and  pink  ;  she  hands 
one  to  her  husband,  keeping  the  other  for  herself,  and 
amid  greetings  and  shouts  of  "Good  luck"  and  "In 
a  lucky  hour  "  they  all  go  to  the  bride's  house,  where 
the  scene  of  the  betrothal  is  repeated.  The  bride,  ready 
dressed,  is  seated  on  a  chair  in  the  middle  of  the  room ; 
the  nuna  will  now  comb  her  hair,  part  it  in  two  and  make 
two  plaits  of  it,  arranging  them  in  a  coronet  on  top  of 
her  head,  on  which  then  the  gold-thread  and  the  orange 
flowers  are  fastened,  together  with  a  silver  coin  hidden 
in  the  hair,  that  she  may  never  be  in  want.  The  bride 
ought  to  weep  all  through  the  operation.  A  little  bunch 
of  flowers  and  gold-thread  is  put  on  the  bridegroom's  hat 
and  also  in  the  hair  of  the  dru§te.  One  big  colac  is  then 
broken  and  divided  among  the  people  present,  and  then, 
in  ox-carts  and  horse-vehicles  and  also  on  horseback, 
they  will  start  for  church  to  the  sound  of  music  and 
pistol  shots.  A  bride  ought  never  to  meet  another  bride 
on  her  way  to  church,  it  would  be  a  very  bad  omen ;  but 
it  would  be  a  very  good  omen  if  she  met  with  a  funeral. 
At  church  they  go  through  a  ceremony  of  honouring 
the  chief  images,  then  the  pair  receive  Holy  Communion 
and  the  ceremony  of  the  "  coronation  "  is  gone  through, 
the  sponsors  standing  by  the  young  pair  with  lighted 
tapers  in  their  hands.  The  priest  reads  the  usual  prayers 
and  admonitions  to  the  young  pair  with  the  never 
forgotten  :  "  And  tlie  wife  shall  fear  her  husband,"  on 
which  a  too  cheerful  old  priest  will  add:  "And  the 
husband  the  poker."  Two  crowns,  made  of  flowers  or 
of  metal,  are  put  on  the  head  of  the  married  couple  by 
the  priest,  aided  by  the  sponsors,  after  which  the  married 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     279 

couple,  sponsors  and  priest,  will  join  hands  and  turn 
thrice  round  the  table  while  the  priest  sings  :  **  Jessaiah 
dances,"  whilst  one  of  the  party  will  shower  upon  them 
sweets,  raisins,  and  hazel-nuts.  At  this  moment,  if 
the  bride  wishes  to  have  the  upper  hand  at  home,  she 
ought  to  tread  on  the  bridegroom's  foot.  The  couple 
are  then  given  some  bread,  and  drink  some  wine  out 
of  the  same  glass,  the  priest  and  party  congratulate  them 
and  the  cununia  (the  coronation)  is  over.  Of  course 
the  wedding  at  the  mayor's  has  been  gone  through 
before  the  church  coronation,  but  without  any  particu- 
lar ceremony.  At  the  bridegroom's  house — the  couple's 
house  henceforth^ — the  bride  is  received  with  carpets 
spread  on  the  door-step  by  the  mother-in-law,  who  kisses 
her,  while  the  Idutari  will  play  and  playfully  sing — 

"  Mother-in-law 
Sour  grapes 
You  may  ripen 
Ever  so  much 
You  will  never  become  sweet."  * 

A  plate  with  bread  and  salt  is  offered  to  the  young 
couple,  often  also  with  honey  and  butter.  The  bride 
takes  some  butter  with  the  finger  and  anoints  the  door- 
frame crosswise.  In  some  places  the  young  pair  are 
offered  to  eat  with  a  needle  a  hard-boiled  eggy  in  order 
that  they  should  be  thrifty,  and  attached  to  their  house 
as  the  hen  to  her  eggs.  At  dinner  the  priest  will  occupy 
the  head  of  the  table,  or  in  his  absence  the  sponsor; 
colaci  are  offered  round  in  due  order,  with  appropriate 
recitations  of  mchindciuni  and  hearty  cheerings. 

Towards  evening  the  dance  breaks  off,  and  only  inti- 
mate friends  and  important  persons  are  invited  to  the 
masa-mare  (the  great  dinner).     This  meal  takes  place 

*  "  Soacra,  soacra, 
Poama  acra 
De  te-i  coace 
Cit  te-i  coace 
Dulce  tot  nu  te-i  mai  facel" 


280         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

at  night,  and  only  married  couples  partake  of  it;  the 
guests  all  pay  for  their  place  with  as  much  money 
as  they  can  afford ;  the  sponsor  is  expected  to  give 
most,  from  £1  upwards ;  promises  also  may  be  made 
of  cattle  and  sheep.  Every  guest  is  presented  with  a 
colac  and  a  beautifully  spun  napkin,  part  of  the  bride's 
dowry.  The  courses  brought  in  are  many,  and  endless 
the  toasting,  with  long  speeches,  cheerful  music,  and 
no  end  of  practical  jokes  and  mutual  teasing.  At  dawn 
the  table  is  left ;  the  nuna  puts  out  the  wedding  tapers 
which  have  been  burning  all  the  while,  stuck  in  a  loaf, 
and  gives  them  to  the  bride,  who  carefully  lays  them 
by,  towards  the  time  when  she  and  her  husband  shall 
want  them  to  light  their  last  moments  on  this  earth.  If 
one  of  the  tapers  is  burned  out  more  than  another,  the 
owner  of  it  will  die  first.  The  nun  then  takes  the  bride's 
handkerchief  and  puts  in  the  collected  money,  with  some 
bread  and  salt  added  for  abundance'  sake,  and  also  some 
sweet-basil  for  love's  sake.  But  he  must  not  tie  the 
bundle  too  tight,  as  the  couple  are  then  apt  to  become 
miserly,  nor  too  loose,  as  they  will  then  be  spendthrifts. 

On  Monday  morning  a  young  woman  is  sent  out  with 
a  red  kerchief  tied  on  a  stick  and  a  bottle  of  red  whisky 
to  ask  friends  for  the  evening  dinner  (the  uncrop),  when 
spirits  are  so  high  that  men  will  get  up  on  the  top  of  the 
house  to  drink  there,  and  amusement  will  go  on  all  night 
again.  On  Tuesday  a  party  goes  with  music  to  fetch  the 
nuna,  who  begins  again  to  dress  the  bride's  head,  putting 
on  it  the  kerchief  that  she  will  always  wear,  so  that 
the  holy  sun  shall  never  again  shine  upon  the  married 
woman's  bare  head.  On  the  next  Sunday  the  young 
couple  have  to  receive  their  relatives  at  dinner ;  the 
Sunday  after  they  are  entertained  by  the  bride's  parents, 
and  there  at  last  is  the  end  of  it. 

Roumanian  peasants,  with  all  their  faithfulness  to  old 
usages,  are  nevertheless  often  obliged  to  bring  in  changes 
more  in  accordance  with  outside  circumstances,  stronger 
indeed  than  their  own  wishes.  As  far  as  possible,  they 
preserve  all  the  formaHties,  local  or  general,  but  then 
want  and    pressure    of    work  will    often    affect    them, 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     281 

shortening  more  and  more  all  such  amusements ;  in  old 
times  a  wedding  took  more  than  three  days  ;  nowadays 
a  tendency  appears  to  crowd  the  various  formalities  as 
much  as  possible  into  Saturday  and  Sunday. 

The  Eoumanian  peasant — rather  different  from  his 
compatriot  of  the  upper  class — has  married  for  life ;  he 
and  she  are  perfectly  aware  that — 

"  Marriage  is  an  iron  yoke 
Your  life  long  you  are  with  it."  * 

Yet  they  will  stick  to  it,  and  bear  with  one  another  all 
through  the  years.  The  multifarious  shortcomings  of 
life  may  well  fill  the  weaker  of  the  two  with  dejection, 
put  forth  in  a  song  like  this,  begun  before,  ended  after, 
the  gleaming  mirage  of  love  and  wedding,  a  song  which 
sounds  more  like  a  yearning  for  past  youth  than  for  lost 
liberty : — 

1.  "  Before  being  in  love  with  thee, 
Love,  O  nay  love, 
Where  I  lay  down  I  did  Bleep, 
Love,  0  my  love. 

2.  But  since  I  have  loved  thee, 

Love,  O  my  love, 

I  can  rest  myself  no  more, 

Love,  0  my  love.f 


*  "  Maritatu-i  jug  de  fier, 
Pana-i  trai  e^ti  cu  el." 

f  1.  "  Pana  nu  mi  te  iubeam, 
Dor,  Dorule, 
Unde  ma  culcam  dormeam, 
Dor,  Dorule. 

2.  Dar  de  cand  mi  te  iubesc, 
Dor,  Dorule, 
Nu  pot  sa  ma  odihnesc, 
Dor,  Dorule. 


282         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

3.  As  a  maid  in  my  mother's  house, 

Love,  O  my  love, 
I  knew  how  a  flower  is  worn, 
Love,  0  my  love, 

4.  But  since  I  have  been  married, 

Love,  0  my  love, 
The  house's  care  I  have  taken. 
Love,  0  my  love."  * 

Adagio.    M.M.  J  =  62.^ 


Un-de  macul-cam dor-meam, 


She  may  have  still  stronger  reasons  to  draw  a  compari- 
son between  girlhood  and  married  life  and  find  the  latter 
wanting,  thus : — 

"The  well-being  of  my  girlhood, 
No  penman  can  ever  write  it. 
Even  though  the  sky  were  paper,f 


*  3.  C§,t  eram  la  maica  fata, 
Dor,  Dorule, 
§tieam  floarea  cum  se  poarta. 
Dor,  Dorule. 

4.  Dar  de  c&nd  m'am  maritat, 
Dor,  Dorule, 
Grija  casei  mi-am  luat, 
Dor,  Dorule." 

f  **  Binele  meu  din  fetie 

Nu-i  diac  sa-1  poata  scrie. 
Chiar  de-ar  fi  cerul  hartie 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     283 

And  the  moon  were  an  inkstand, 
The  holy  sun  a  young  penman, 
Ever  writing  in  a  small  hand."* 

For  husbands  are  rather  exacting,  and  wives  have  not 
always  an  easy  time  with  them.  Of  course,  as  long  as 
he  keeps  to  language  only,  be  it  bad  language  even,  it 
does  not  seem  to  matter  overmuch,  for — 

"The  husband  may  say  many  things, 
The  wife  puts  them  behind  her  back."f 

But,  unfortunately,  he  will  often  come  to  blows,  and 
not  for  very  sufficient  reasons,  either.  Even  blows  are 
not  taken  too  unkindly,  for — 

"  An  unbeaten  woman 
Is  like  an  undressed  mill  " —  | 

and,  **A  man  who  does  not  beat  his  wife  does  not  love 
her."  It  all  depends,  of  course,  on  the  causes  of  the 
beating,  and  if  the  wife  has  reasons  to  think  that 
jealousy  and  love  are  at  the  bottom  of  her  husband's 
cruelty,  she  will  surely  not  take  it  unkindly ;  rather  the 
reverse.  Moreover,  a  Roumanian  peasant  woman  would 
much  rather  be  beaten,  ever  so  much,  by  a  strong 
husband,  than  possess  one  whom  she  could  beat  herself. 
The  centuries- old  Vidra,  the  wife  of  Stoian,  the  ancestral 
type  of  the  Roumanian  woman,  denies  him  the  help  he 
begs  from  her  in  his  single  fight  with  the  Pduna§ul 
Codrilor ;  she  declines  to  tighten  his  girdle,  loosened  in  the 
struggle,  for  she  thinks  it  a  cowardly  thing  that  a  man 
should  ask  help  from  a  woman,  especially  in  a  single 

*  §i  luna  un  calamar 
Santul  soare-un  diecel 
Sa  tot  scrie  marun^el  1  " 

f  "Barbatu  multe  zice 
Femeia  la  dos  duce." 

I  "Femeia  ne-batuta 

Ca  moara  ne-ferecata." 


284         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

fight.    She  is  the  prize  of  the  victory,  and  she  is  ready  to 
accept  the  victor,  the  bravest,  strongest  of  the  two  : — 

"  0,  no,  no,  dear  brother  man. 
For  you  want  a  just  fight — 
And  the  one  who  is  the  victor 
He  it  is  that  I  shall  love."  * 

And  when  the  victorious  Stoian  prepares  to  cut  off  her 
head  in  punishment  for  the  denied  service,  she  is  not 
cowed  in  the  least,  but  boldly  and  bravely  holds  her 
own : — 

"So  it  is,  0  Stoian,  so! 
I  said,  and  say  it  again, 
That  I'll  ever  love  a  brave  man 
Who  can  fight  his  struggle  out 
Without  asking  woman's  help."  f 

Alas,  though,  for  that  deplorable  husband,  unable  to 
appreciate  his  noble  wife's  strength  of  character !  He 
actually  cut  off  her  head,  and  made  with  it  a  top  to  a  hay- 
stack !  The  Roumanian  woman  is  still  true  to  the 
ancestral  taste ;  she  always  prefers  a  man  of  whom  she 
proudly  can  say  that  he  is  *'  a  cross  of  a  man"  {cruce  de 
harhat),  and  then  she  will  light-heartedly  step  behind  him, 
on  the  road  of  life  ! 

Unfortunately,  domestic  strife  may  be  the  outcome  of 
vice,  of  drink,  on  the  man's  side  mostly,  but  sometimes 
on  both ;  then  it  may  come  to  bloody  tragedies,  for  the 
maddened  drunkard  will  strike  indiscriminately,  and  the 
hardened  wife  will  still  cross  him  and  arouse  his  wild 
anger  by :  "  Strike,  for  I  am  not  made  of  glass  to  break  1 " 


Ba  nu,  nu,  badi^a  frate, 
Ca  vrei  lupta  pe  dreptate 
§i  ori-care  a  birui, 
Eu  cu  d^nsul  m'oi  iubi." 

A^a-i  Stoiene,  a^al 
Am  mai  zis-o  §'o  mai  zic 
Ca  mi-i  drag  oine-i  voinic 
De  se  lupta  far'  a  cere 
Ajutor  de  la  muiere." 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     285 

And  he  strikes !  But  cases  of  the  kind  are  rare.  Happy 
couples  are  frequent  (much  more  so  than  in  the  upper 
classes)  who  patiently  accept  the  hard  conditions  of  life, 
and  a  wife  will  easily  find  it  in  her  heart  to  sing  after  a 
departed  husband : — 

"Ever  since  my  lord  is  gone 

Mist  has  set  in  my  courtyard, 
On  the  stake  and  on  the  rod, 
And  on  my  own  little  heart."* 

With  strokes  now  and  then,  with  rare  petting  and 
caressing,  with  frequent  hardships  and  hard  toil,  they 
walk  through  life  side  by  side,  the  peasant  couple,  and 
really  there  is  still  a  subdued  love  in  the  still  twinkling 
eyes  of  the  shrunken  mo§neag  (old  man)  when  speaking  of 
his  old  wrinkle-faced  wife,  of  his  baba.  Love  is,  has 
been,  a  youthful  dream,  for  which  many  allowances  have 
been  made  in  time,  the  conditions  of  which,  however, 
will  arouse  the  humour  of  the  aged,  to  which  he  will  give 
vent  in  a  jocose  hora  like  this : — 

1.  "  •  You  have  been,  ma'm  what  you  have, 
And  are  only  a  poor  lot  now.' 
'You  have  been,  sir,  a  strong  man. 
And  are  now  a  good-for-nothing  man.* 

2.  'You  had,  madam,  blooming  cheeks, 
Now  you've  wrinkles  on  your  skin.' 
'You  have  had,  sir,  steady  eyes, 
Have  now  your  body  on  crutches.'  f 


*  "De  cand  badea  mi  s'a  dus 
Negura  'n  curte  s'a  pus; 
^i  pe  par  si  pe  nuiea 
$i  pe  inimioara  mea." 

f  1.  '"Fost-ai,  leleo,  c&nd  ai  fost 
^'ai  ramas  im  lucru  prost.' 
*  Fost-ai,  badeo,  om  voinic 
^'•ai  ramas  om  de  nimic' 

2.  'Avufi,  leleo,  floricele, 

§'acum  ai  sbarceli  la  piele;' 
'Avu^i  badeo  ochii  dS-rji 
^'acum  e^ti  cu  trupu  'n  clbrji.' 


286 


FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


:t 


Pi 


8.  'You  were,  ma'm,  full  of  attractions 
Have  remained  with  :   Away,  hence  1 ' 
'You  were,  sir,  a  sprightly  man. 
Have  become  quite  a  vampire"! '  "  * 

Giocoio.  M.M.  J  =72.     -^^ 


4 


-P      M 


^ 


i 


Fost-ai,  le  -  leo,  C£i,nd  ai  fost,       le-leodra-ga    le-leo... 


:sr=p: 


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t^=^ 


5 


— 1^— ♦ 1 . IT     1^     '     ■     1 1 

§'ai  ra-mas   un    lu-cru  prost,  le-leo  dra  -  ga    le  -  leo. 
mf 


■^s^ 


^^ 


^ 


Fost-ai,  ba  •  deo,  om  voi-nic, 

ba  -  deo  ba  -  < 

ii  -  ^or 

rj  *                n_ 

, 

h*"  1     1 

'"          11    |~\     1  ■ 

-fr.^~\ — m—f — -^ 

J       r  ' 

^  J    1    r^ 

— jVp — ■J-'tr*-'4*-  -1- 

!^ — ii — Z — 1 *J 

l^ — m-'   '   1 

1 ^    m    J  \ 

L^ — ;    1    1    " 

9*ai  ra-mas  om    de    ni-mic,  ba-deo  ba  -  di  -  ^or. 


Divorces,  very  frequent  in  the  upper  classes,  are  hardly 
ever  known  among  the  peasants;  very  rarely  indeed, 
happening  only  in  cases  V7hen  the  wife  has  somehow 
reached  town,  taken  domestic  service,  and  got  within 
reach  of  some  lawyer's  advice.  Conjugal  philosophy  has 
come  in  the  tolerant  admission  that — 

"A  man's  home  is  heaven  and  hell  as  well."f 

Consequently,  one  puts  up  with  vexations  for  the  sake 
of  the  happy  moments,  be  they  ever  so  scarce.  For 
after  all — 

"  As  in  a  man's  home,  nowhere,"  | 

for  better  for  worse. 


*  3.  'Fost-ai,  leleo,  cu  lipici 

§'ai  ramas  cu  fugi  d'aici ' 
•Fost-ai,  badeo,  om  vioiii 
§'ai  ramas  chiar  un  strigoiii  I ' 

I  "  Casa  omului  ^i  raiii  ^i  iad." 

I  "Ca  la  casa  omului,  nicairi." 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     287 

If  the  two  are  equally  below  the  mark,  then  they  have 
been  "  made  by  fate  "  for  each  other : — 

"God  has  not  spoUed  two  houses."* 

But  if  one  only  seems  to  be  made  for  the  misfortune  of 
the  other,  the  proverb  seems  to  admit  that  this  is  the 
usual  state  of  things  in  this  world;  that  a  good  useful 
being  will  be  usually  coupled  with  a  bore,  a  disagreeable 
weight,  it  is  generally — 

"  An  ox  and  a  bore ;  "  f 

and  even  the  still  more  discouraging — 

"  Good  grapes  are  eaten  by  pigs  " —  J 

seems  to  imply  that  couples  are  seldom  fitly  matched, 
and  then  one  really  does  not  know  which  it  is  best  to  be, 
the  grapes  or  the  pig  ! 

About  conjugal  virtues  there  are  many  anecdotes  and 
songs,  tending,  it  would  appear,  to  show  that  they  are 
somewhat  loose,  the  man  does  not  much  trust  his  wife : — 

"  "Woman  and  dog,  never  believe  them."  § 

Or  again — 

"Your  horse  and  your  wife  never  trust  to  another."  || 

But  the  wife  has  her  answer  also — 

"  Husband  and  horse,  never  trust  them :  when  they  seem  to  go 
best,  then  you  are  overthrown."  IT 

*  *'  N'o  stricat  Dumnezeu  doua  case." 
f  "Un  bou  ^i  o  belea." 

I  "Poama  buna  porcii  o  m&nanca." 
§  "Femeia  §i  canele,  sa  nu-i  crezi." 

II  ••  Calul  §i  femeia  sa  nu-i  dai  pe  m&na  altuia." 

II  "  Barbatul  ^i  calul  sa  nu-i  crezi:  cind  i^i  pare  ca  merge  mai  bine, 
atunoi  te  trante^te." 


288         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Of  course,  in  this  discussion  about  virtue,  man  has 
managed  to  put  himself  into  a  rather  superior  situation : 
Roumanian  as  well  as  other  peasants  will  look  down  upon 
woman  in  general,  and  stamp  her  inferiority  in  everything 
by  saying  that  woman  is — 

"Long  skirts,  short  understanding, 
Judgment  rather  small; 
Bound  head,  girt  heart, 
Unreached  by  the  mind."* 

Anecdotes  and  proverbs  and  strigdturi,  verses  shouted 
at  the  hora,  are  very  severe,  harping  upon  defective  virtue 
in  woman,  but  after  all,  will  all  this  stir  not  rather  tend 
to  show  that  people  feel  keenly  about  it,  that  it  is  the 
exception  rather  than  the  rule,  and  that  exactly  because 
virtue  is  the  groundwork  of  peasant  society  the  departures 
from  it  arouse  so  much  ado  and  talk  ?  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  this  seems  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  drawbacks  of 
Roumanian  social  life — is  it  not  rather  Latin  ? — that,  for 
good  and  evil,  there  are  more  words  than  deeds.  Gossip 
is  strong  in  every  social  stratum  and  is  apt  to  emphasise 
and  develop  facts,  until  they  have  quite  reached  the 
dominion  of  pure  fancy.  Popular  wisdom  has  put  it 
down  in  a  few  words : — 

"Water,  wind,  and  people's  tongues, 
You  cannot  stop."  f 

"Man  has  nought  else  to  think 
But  over  and  over  will  reckon 
How  he  will  live  for  ever.  J 

*  "Poale  lungi  §i  minte  scurta 

Judecata  mai  marunta. 

Cap  legat  inima'  ncinsa 

^i  de  minte  ne-cuprinsa." 
f  "Apa,  v4ntul  §i  gura  lumii 

Nu  po^i  opri." 
t  "N'are  omul  ce  gdndi 

Far'  mereu  a  socoti 

Oa  in  veoi  va  tot  trai. 


Old  and  Weary. 


iPhoto,  J.  Cazaban. 


Group  of  Peasants. 


IFhoto,  D.  Cadcre. 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     289 

But  the  human  life 
Is  like  the  field  flower: 
At  dawn  it  will  blossom, 
Fade  away  at  even."* 

Happy,  too,  when  time  is  given  one  to  fade  away,  but 
Death,  embodied  in  the  shape  of  an  emaciated  old  woman, 
does  not  choose  in  reaping  her  harvest,  but  cuts  down 
indiscriminately  old  and  young.  And  the  will  of  God 
must  be  done,  for  He  has  given  **  man's  days  "  and  His  is 
the  right  to  cut  them  short  when  He  likes.  '*  Where 
there  is  life,  there  is  also  death  " —wncZe-i  via^d,  este  §i 
moarte.  The  Eoumanian  peasant  looks  quietly  forward  to 
death :  "  when  his  days  are  out,"  a  man  must  go.  But 
if  death  itself  is  looked  upon  with  no  special  fear,  the 
moment  of  death,  the  idea  of  crossing  this  world's 
threshold,  is  considered  with  some  foreboding.  An  easy 
departure  is  the  last  happiness  a  man  may  wish  for  him- 
self ;  what  will  happen  after  death  is  not  so  disquieting 
as  the  manner  of  the  transition  from  the  known  life  to 
the  unknown  one.  Death  is  foretold  by  many  an  omen. 
If  the  dogs  bark  in  a  wailing  tone  and  dig  holes  round 
the  prispa,  some  one  of  the  family  will  die ;  if  the  owl 
shrieks  on  the  chimney  top,  if  the  oil  lamp  {candela)  is 
overthrown,  if  oil  is  spilt,  if  a  falling  star  is  seen,  some- 
body about  the  house  or  one  of  the  family  is  sure  to  die. 
Old  people  will  generally  prepare  long  beforehand  the 
needed  things  for  their  own  burial — the  clothes  in  which 
they  will  be  laid  out,  the  necessary  kerchiefs,  down  to 
the  tapers  and  the  cof&n.  They  do  not  like  to  be  taken 
unawares,  and  besides,  they  think  it  safer  to  have  every- 
thing ready,  against  the  possible  neglect  of  their  children 
and  relatives. 

At  the  moment  of  death,  when  no  incantations,  no 
potations,  no  doctor's  help,  have  been  able  to  save  a  sick 
person,  the  priest  is  called  in,  and  the  last  sacrament  is 


Dar  via^a  omului 
E  ca  floarea  campului: 
Diminea^a  inflore^te 
Peste  zi  se  vesteje^te." 

20 


290         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

administered,  which  is  supposed  to  have  a  curing  power 
sometimes,  when  no  other  physic  can  help.  At  any  rate, 
the  patient  is  grijit  (cleansed,  provided  for) ;  he  is  ready  to 
depart  from  this  world  ;  he  has  gone  through  the  supreme 
act  of  his  religion,  he  dies  "  in  his  law."  Sd  nu  mor  in 
legea  mea  ("  May  I  not  die  in  my  own  religion  ")  is  one 
of  the  heaviest  oaths  a  man  can  take. 

On  no  account  should  a  dying  man  be  left  to  breathe 
his  last  "without  a  candle,"  a  lit  taper,  which  is  put  into 
his  dying  hand  at  the  very  last  moment,  and,  whatever  the 
state  of  agitation  of  the  dying  man  may  be,  this  taper 
must  be  held  fast  in  his  hand  by  some  friend  or  relative. 
li  iine  lumdnarea  ("  one  holds  his  candle  ")  means  that 
a  man  is  at  his  last  gasp,  and  a  great  wrong  would 
be  done  him  if  he  were  left  to  die  without  a  candle.  This 
candle  is  meant  to  keep  away  bad  spirits  that  might 
intrude  upon  the  dying  man,  trying  to  tamper  with  his 
soul,  and  also  the  candle  lights  the  soul  on  its  way  towards 
heaven. 

If  the  agony  is  hard,  a  priest  is  called  in  to  read  special 
prayers  (molifte)  for  the  deliverance  of  the  soul.  If  the 
man  cannot  die  easily,  something  is  supposed  to  be 
tormenting  his  soul,  and,  to  save  him  from  that  torment, 
his  friends  will  subject  him  to  all  sorts  of  troubles  with 
the  object  of  helping  him  to  die,  and  grant  him  thus  the 
best  last  service  friends  can  grant.  They  will  shift  him 
to  different  positions  on  the  bed,  pillows  and  all ;  or 
they  will  put  him  to  lie  down  on  the  floor,  facing  East ; 
if  that  will  not  help,  they  will  bring  an  ox-yoke  or  some 
wheel,  things  he  may  have  sinned  against,  and  put  them 
under  his  head.  For  if  a  man  cannot  die  easily,  it  is 
because  his  soul  is  overloaded  with  sins,  and  he  will  not 
die  before  pardon  is  granted  to  him.  If  an  estate  official, 
or  a  land  surveyor,  has  a  hard  agony,  this  is  supposed 
to  be  the  outcome  of  his  unjust  measuring  of  land ;  to 
help  him,  they  will  bring  a  rod  into  the  room,  passing 
it  through  the  window,  and  put  the  end  of  it  into  his 
hands :  rest  will  come  to  his  soul,  and  he  will  die. 
A  curse  is  supposed  to  have  a  great  effect  upon  a  man's 
death ;   if  some  one  has  had  reason  to  curse  another 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     291 

so  that  he  shall  not  die  before  he  is  pardoned,  he  will 
indeed  not  be  able  to  die;  but  his  enemy  is  sought 
after,  and  if  found,  brought  in  to  ask  from  God  pardon 
for  the  cursed  one.  The  torments  of  a  dying  man  are 
the  direct  outcome  of  his  misdeeds,  injustice  and  wrong- 
doing in  the  first  place ;  to  these  torments  (chinuri) , 
the  friends  of  the  dying  man  will  do  all  they  can  to 
put  an  end,  which  then  will  mean  that  he  is  safe 
now,  that  his  sins  are  pardoned.  Of  course,  many  other 
things  remain  to  be  done  for  the  dead,  but  those  are 
just  as  necessary  for  the  man  who  has  led  the  brightest, 
most  angelic  life,  as  for  the  one  who  has  spent  his 
life  in  the  blackest  of  misdeeds. 

When  the  dying  man  has  breathed  his  last,  the 
windows  are  opened  immediately,  or  a  glass-pane  is 
broken,  that  the  soul  may  fly  out  to  the  free  air.  The 
eyes  of  the  dead  are  shut  by  the  nearest  relative — a 
service  a  man  always  wants  to  have  done  to  him  by 
his  favourite  child — the  bells  are  rung  at  the  little  village 
church ;  the  women  undo  their  hair,  letting  it  hang  loose 
on  their  back,  and  begin  lamenting  over  the  dead.  If 
grief  is  very  great,  they  go  lamenting  round  the  house. 
This  lamentation  is  a  real  formality  that  a  poor,  sorrowful 
woman  is  condemned  to  go  through ;  and  the  words  she 
utters  are  listened  to,  her  complaint  being  often  in  verse ; 
and  it  is  considered  quite  a  duty  for  a  woman  to  lament 
a  boci  properly,  her  deceased  husband,  child  or  parent; 
it  is  a  recognised  merit  to  have  lamented  one's  dead 
''beautifully."  A  woman's  grief  may  by  no  means  be 
silent,  quiet.  This  part  of  the  lamentation  will  induce 
many  a  mother-in-law  to  put  up  with  daughters-in-law, 
if  they  have  no  daughters  of  their  own,  for  they  know 
that  these  are  destined  to  lament  over  their  dead  bodies. 

The  dead  man  is  thoroughly  washed,  shaved,  and  his 
hair  dressed ;  he  is  washed  in  a  hot  bath,  the  water 
being  then  poured  at  the  root  of  a  tree,  and  covered  with 
the  kettle,  in  which  it  has  been  heated,  for  a  while :  it 
were  a  sin  to  walk  on  that  water.  His  nails  are  cleanly 
cut,  and  in  some  places,  I  hear,  the  parings  are  stuck 
together  in  a  small  ball  of  wax  and  kept  as  a  keepsake  in 


292         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

a  narrow  partition  inside  the  chest.  It  is  a  fact  that  the 
Roumanian  peasant  is  very  careful  about  his  nails,  the 
parings  of  which,  when  cut,  must  be  carefully  gathered 
together  and  laid  by  safely — otherwise,  in  the  next  world, 
the  neglectful  person  will  have  to  gather  them  up  with 
his  or  her  own  eyelashes.  The  deceased  is  dressed  in 
new  linen,  with  his  best  clothes  and  a  black  lamb-skin 
cap  on  his  head.  A  married  man  or  woman  will  be 
buried  with  their  wedding  ring  on  the  finger.  A  young 
girl  will  be  dressed  like  a  bride,  and  a  ring  will  also  be 
put  on  her  finger.  The  body  is  arranged  on  a  table,  in 
the  middle  of  the  room,  facing  East — in  Transylvania, 
though,  generally  with  the  feet  towards  the  door.  Four 
tall  tapers,  in  tall  candlesticks,  are  lit  at  the  four  corners 
of  the  table;  a  priest  sits  by  reading  the  stilpii  (the 
pillars),  that  is  the  Gospels.  Some  friends  or  relatives  will 
begin  making  the  coffin,  by  first  taking  an  exact  measure- 
ment of  the  body,  with  a  reed  or  a  string,  and  taking 
good  care  not  to  make  it  too  long,  which  would  mean 
that  some  other  relative  of  the  dead  will  die  soon.  The 
reed  which  has  served  for  measuring  is  laid  at  the  bottom 
of  the  coffin ;  when  it  is  a  string  that  has  served,  this  is 
wound  up,  stuck  into  a  little  hole  above  the  door  and 
plastered  over.  The  coffin  is  made  of  fir-planks,  the 
bottom  composed  only  of  several  transversal  palings, 
covered  over  with  reeds.  The  coffin  is  painted  red,  with 
white  crosses  on  the  lid  and  side  planks.  The  body 
is  put  into  the  coffin  as  soon  as  this  is  ready  and  covered, 
except  the  head,  with  a  white  thin  stuff,  the  giulgiu, 
zovon,  pinza,  the  shroud.  The  hands  are  crossed  on  the 
breast,  and  between  the  fingers  a  small  cross  of  white 
wax  is  set;  this  is  made  of  a  thin  taper  wound  up 
and  folded  into  the  shape  of  a  cross,  with  a  coin  in  it — 
for  the  paying  of  the  entrance  fee  into  heaven.  Under 
the  head  there  is  a  pillow  made  of  herbs  or  of  the 
deceased's  hair,  if  she  has  preserved  what  has  been  cut 
during  life.  In  some  places  they  put  a  comb  by  the 
pillow ;  in  other  places  they  put  some  bread  and  salt.  If 
the  dead  has  been  a  shepherd,  they  put  his  whistle 
by  him  in  his  coffin.    In  other  places,  in  the  coffin  of  a 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     293 

mother  of  a  family,  they  put  as  many  dolls  as  she  has 
children. 

The  corpse  is  kept  three  days  in  the  house,  the  tapers 
burning  continually,  the  priest  reading  as  long  as  possible. 
People  call  in  to  see  the  dead;  the  relatives  cry  over 
him  from  time  to  time,  but  by  no  means  should  he  be 
left  alone.  At  night  there  is  a  gathering  of  guests, 
as  large  as  for  any  entertainment ;  and,  indeed,  they  play 
games  all  night  long,  in  and  out  of  doors,  when  they  light 
a  fire  in  the  yard.  This  amusement,  for  the  sake  of 
attendance  on  the  dead  at  night,  is  called  priveghiu,  a 
kind  of  watching. 

After  three  days  the  body  is  taken  to  church,  carried 
on  a  kind  of  litter,  which  four  men  bear  on  their 
shoulders,  or  he  is  driven  in  his  ox-cart,  or,  in  other 
places,  in  an  ox-sledge,  even  in  summer,  and  if  the  way 
is  long,  the  work  is  hard  for  the  oxen;  to  alleviate  it, 
green  plants,  mostly  wall-wort,  are  thrown  on  the  road 
before  the  advancing  sledge,  that  it  may  glide  along 
easier.  In  some  places,  when  the  dead  is  the  head  of 
the  family,  the  yoke  is  put  on  the  necks  of  the  oxen,  with 
the  upper  part  downward.  Anyhow,  the  funeral  corUge 
will  advance  slowly  along  the  road,  slowly,  noiselessly, 
with  no  other  sound  than  the  almost  continuous  wailing 
of  the  woman.  The  litter  is  draped  round  with  a  stuff 
more  or  less  costly,  of  which  priestly  robes  are  afterwards 
made ;  poorer  people  will  hang  round  the  litter  some 
home-made  carpets  or  other  rougher  stuff,  afterwards 
given  away  to  the  still  poorer.  The  dead  person  is 
carried  uncovered  to  church,  that  he  may  behold  this  fair 
world  for  the  last  time,  and  take  from  it  a  last  farewell. 
In  places  where  it  is  not  allowed  to  bury  the  dead 
uncovered  two  little  windows  are  cut  out  on  both  sides 
of  the  cof&n,  about  the  head,  for  the  dead  to  breathe, 
they  say,  and  see  his  friends,  and  hear  those  who  lament 
after  him,  and  take  leave  of  them ;  for,  what  is  the  good 
of  lamentation,  if  the  dead  is  not  to  enjoy  it?  The 
funeral  procession  is  more  or  less  large,  according  to  the 
position  of  the  family ;  in  any  case  the  cross  and  banner 
lead,  with  at  least  one  lantern  taken  from  the  church, 


294         PROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

and  borne  by  men,  who  receive  a  wax  taper  and  a 
kerchief  in  payment.  Then  follow  several  big  trays  with 
the  pomeni,  gifts  of  eatables  for  the  soul  of  the  dead ;  the 
chief  item  among  these  is  the  coliva,  a  kind  of  corn- 
pudding,  very  good  to  eat  when  well  made ;  then  come 
the  colaci,  some  very  big  ones,  some  smaller,  in  which 
sticks  covered  with  figs  and  raisins,  mostly  gilt,  are  stuck. 
The  priest  and  attendants  walk  in  front  of  the  coffin 
in  their  robes,  and  holding  in  their  hands  tapers  tied 
with  a  kerchief,  which  they  then  take  home;  all  along 
the  way  they  recite  or  rather  chant  prayers.  Behind 
the  coffin  the  family  follow,  the  women  lamenting;  if 
possible  a  band  will  play  mournful  tunes ;  for  shepherds 
especially,  some  whistler  is  appointed.  From  time  to 
time  the  slowly  advancing  train  will  stop,  for  repeated 
blessings  on  the  coffin;  at  every  fresh  start  a  piece 
of  linen  is  spread  on  the  road  in  front  of  the  coffin, 
with  a  candle  beside  it,  and  this  is  to  be  walked  over  by 
the  coffin  bearers :  these  are  poduri  (bridges) ,  which  are 
supposed  to  be  numerous,  on  the  way  to  heaven ;  by  the 
means  of  these  linen  bridges  it  is  hoped  to  assure  an 
easier  passage  to  heaven  for  the  dead.  The  linen  and 
candles  are  given  away  to  some  poor  followers.  A  short 
service  is  held  in  church;  the  priest  then  requests  the 
family  to  say  farewell  to  the  dead,  which  is  done  with 
heartrending  lamentations.  The  coffin  is  then  lowered 
into  the  grave  with  cords  and  two  long  girdles  (brie), 
given  afterwards  to  the  grave-diggers,  who  have  lowered 
down  the  coffin.  Before  the  lowering  of  the  coffin  lid, 
the  priest  will  throw  from  above  wine  (apaos)  crosswise 
on  the  dead,  and  some  mould  cut  with  a  spade  from 
the  four  edges  of  the  grave,  with  the  last  blessing  of: 
Fie-i  farina  u§oard  ("May  the  earth  be  light  on  him"). 
— which  those  assembled  silently  repeat.  In  some  places, 
about  the  mountains,  two  shepherds  playing  the  horn 
will  come,  and,  crossing  their  alp-horns  over  the  grava 
they  will  blow  a  last  prolonged  peal  to  the  memory 
of  the  departed,  especially  if  the  latter  was  a  shepherd 
himself.  Over  the  grave  various  gifts  are  bestowed  for 
the  soul  of  the  dead:    a  black  hen  in  most  cases,  or 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     295 

a  sheep,  or  cattle.  If  the  dead  person  was  a  young  man 
possessing  a  horse,  his  horse  will  be  given  away  over  his 
grave  to  some  other  lad  of  his  age,  some  friend  of  his. 
After  the  burial  the  procession  returns  home,  possibly  by 
some  other  way  than  the  one  just  travelled  with  the 
dead ;  on  entering  the  house  every  member  of  the  family 
washes  the  hands,  and  as  many  friends  as  wish  to  do 
so.  Whilst  the  burial  was  going  on  in  the  churchyard, 
at  home  some  trustworthy  women  friends  have  been 
busy  sweeping  and  cleaning  the  house  and  preparing  the 
funeral  dinner  (the  comendare) . 

In  older  times  there  was  another  custom,  now  fallen 
into  disuse.  On  the  eve  of  the  funeral  day,  one  or  more 
sheep,  usually  black,  were  brought  home  from  the  sheep- 
fold  ;  at  the  rising  of  the  stars  the  priest  (popa)  was  called 
in;  in  his  presence  a  hole  was  dug  in  the  yard;  the 
sheep,  with  burning  wax  candles  stuck  to  its  horns,  was 
placed  beside  it,  looking  westward,  and  whilst  the  popa 
was  saying  a  prayer,  the  animal  was  killed,  the  blood 
being  made  to  run  into  that  hole,  called  ard.  The  meat 
of  the  sheep  was  used  for  the  preparation  of  the  funeral 
dinner ;  the  priest  got  the  head  and  skin  of  the  animal. 
This  unmistakably  Latin  custom  has  died  out,  but  the 
saying  has  remained  behind :  A  da pielea popii ("To  give 
the  skin  to  the  priest  ")  is  a  very  common  saying,  and  a 
rather  gay  metaphor,  meaning  "  to  die." 

At  the  funeral  dinner,  when  drinking,  everybody  will 
begin  by  spilling  a  few  drops  of  the  wine,  saying,  *'  May 
his  earth  be  light "  ;  this  libation  is  meant  for  the  soul  of 
the  dead.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  Roumanian  peasant 
never  takes  any  drink,  be  it  water  or  anything  else,  with- 
out spilling  a  few  drops  on  the  ground,  by  just  blowing 
over  the  drink.  If  the  family  can  afford  it,  all  those  who 
have  attended  the  funeral  are  invited  to  partake  of  the 
dinner ;  the  table  is  then  spread  out  of  doors,  on  long 
planks,  or  on  many  yards  of  linen,  just  stretched  along  the 
courtyard  on  some  straw,  in  front  of  which  people  sit 
down  on  the  ground  and  eat.  The  principal  table,  however, 
at  which  the  priest  and  most  important  guests  are  to  sit, 
is  laid  inside  the  house.    Besides  the  ordinary  eatables, 


296         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

every  guest  gets  a  colac  and  a  candle,  for  the  soul  of  the 
dead.  A  da  colac  §i  lumdnare  ('*  To  give  away  colac  and 
candle  ")  has  also  passed  into  a  proverb,  to  express  the 
state  of  one  who  has  made  up  his  mind  to  bear  a  loss,  or 
give  up  something. 

In  the  place  where  the  deceased  has  breathed  his  last, 
some  coals  are  put  in  a  potsherd  with  some  incense 
over  them,  and,  beside  them,  a  glass  of  water,  a  piece  of 
bread,  and  a  wax  candle,  called  to'iag.  This  candle  has 
a  peculiar  shape :  it  is  made  of  a  thin  wax  candle,  as  long 
as  the  body  of  the  dead,  coiled  up  and  with  the  end  turned 
up  and  lit ;  from  time  to  time  the  coil  is  unwound,  and 
kept  burning  all  through  the  night  for  three  nights 
running,  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  soul,  which  is  supposed 
to  be  dwelling  thereabouts  during  three  days.  After  three 
days  the  soul  is  supposed  to  find  its  abode  above  the  door 
lintel,  that  is  why  in  some  places  a  piece  of  linen  is 
arranged  there  for  the  soul  to  rest  upon.  After  the  burial 
the  most  important  things  to  attend  to,  are  the  grijele, 
the  "  cares  "  or  attendances,  as  we  may  say,  for  the  repose 
of  the  soul :  services  on  the  tomb,  with  accompaniment 
of  coliva,  colaci  and  candles,  taken  to  church,  and 
saying  of  prayers  by  the  priest  every  three,  nine,  twenty 
and  forty  days.  Then  a  great  funeral  service  with  dinner 
is  given  after  one  year  (the  pomenire),  repeated  every 
year  for  seven  years  running.  Alms  are  given  away  on 
every  occasion,  among  which  water  is  considered  an 
important  item.  After  seven  years  the  usage  is  to  exhume 
the  dead :  the  bones  are  taken  out,  washed  in  wine  and 
buried  again  in  a  smaller  coffin.  At  the  grave,  from  the 
very  moment  of  the  burial,  a  broken  pot — that  which  has 
been  used  for  pouring  the  bath  water  out  of  the  kettle — 
is  set  at  the  head  of  the  tomb,  with  burning  coals  in  it 
and  incense.  In  some  places  they  put  a  fir-tree,  which 
for  the  three  funeral  days  has  been  standing  in  the  dead 
man's  yard  with  all  sorts  of  ornaments  hung  on  it; 
deprived  of  these,  the  tree  is  stuck  at  the  head  of  the 
grave.  If  the  dead  person  was  a  young  girl  they  plant 
ivy,  and  sweet-basil  is  sown  on  the  tomb.  Besides,  at 
the  head  of  the  tomb  a  wooden  cross  is  placed,  painted 


PEASANT  IN  HIS  SOCIAL  RELATIONS     297 

red  generally,  and  sometimes  only  a  red  pillar.  The  rich 
get  a  stone,  with  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  an  inscription 
carved  upon  it.  But  the  popular  poet  knows  best  what 
he  would  like  upon  his  tomb ;  he  would  like  a  weeping- 
willow,  with  eternal  tears  to  overshadow  his  lonely  tomb  : 


"Bend,  bend, 
Weeping  willow, 
That  I  may  reach  you, 
That  I  may  wind  a  crown 
To  wear  it  for  ever. 

Bend,  bend, 
Weeping  willow, 
That  the  wind  may  blow  you, 
That  you  may  kiss  the  earth. 
That  you  may  shade  my  grave."  * 


*    "Te  lasa,  te  lasa 
Salcie  pletoasa 
Sa  te-apuc  cu  mana 
Sa'  mpletesc  cununa 
S'o  port  tot-de-una. 

Te  lasa,  te  lasa 
Salcie  pletoasa 
Sa  te  bata  vantul 
Sa  saru^i  pam^ntul 
Sa-mi  umbre^ti  morm^ntul. 


CHAPTEE  VII 
THE   PEASANT   IN   HIS   RELATIONS    TO   FOREIGNERS 


"You  will  make  the  foreigner  brother 
When  milk  will  spring  out  of  the  stone 
And  the  foreigner  a  sister 
When  the  gun  will  go  off  unloaded."  * 

A  GLANCE  at  a  map  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  will  bring 
home  to  us  at  once  where  and  how  numerous  the 
foreigners  are  with  whom  the  widespread  Eoumanian 
nation  has  to  live  in  direct  contact.  First  and  foremost, 
there  is  the  great  Slavic  sea  surrounding  the  Eoumanian 
land  on  all  sides,  indenting  it  with  its  numerous  and 
varied  gulfs  and  coves,  dashing  for  centuries  with  its 
reckless  waves  on  the  enduring  Eoumanian.  The  Slavs 
in  their  multifarious  shapes  meet  the  Eoumanians  every- 
where :  in  Bassarabia,  where  they  altogether  constitute 
about  12  per  cent,  of  the  whole  population,  although 
of  genuine  Eussians  there  are  only  some  2'10  per  cent, 
(on  the  whole,  34,473,  the  rest  of  some  259,000  being 
Euthenians) ;  in  Bukovina,  where  the  Slavs  (Euthenians) 
constitute  over  30  per  cent,  of  the  total  population ; 
in  Austria-Hungary  at  large,  where  the  Slavic  element 
(Bohemians,  Euthenians,  Croathians,  Slavonians,  Ser- 
vians) constitute  at  least  one-half  of  the  whole  population 
of  the  Empire,   partly   only  in  direct   touch   with   the 

*  "Atunci  ii  face  strainul  frate 
Cand  a  da  din  piatra  lapte 
§i  straina  surioara 
C&nd  a  pocni  pusca  goala." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       299 

Roumanians.  South  of  the  Danube  the  continuity  of  the 
Roumanian  nation  is  far  more  broken  by  the  Slavic 
element:  Bulgarians  and  Servians  (respectively  3,309,816 
and  2,250,712)  in  their  own  States,  with  comparatively 
few  Roumanian  colonists  among  them,  and  the  2,000,000 
Slavs  of  the  province  of  Macedonia  under  Turkish  rule. 
With  Slavs  the  Roumanians  have  been  longest  in  touch ; 
of  Slavs  the  Roumanians  have  assimilated  incalculable 
numbers ;  at  their  hands  the  Roumanians  have  received 
death  blows,  and  been  deprived  of  their  too  far-stretching 
members  in  Istria  and  Moravia,  in  the  heart  of  the 
Austrian  Empire.  On  their  own  politically  constituted 
soil,  the  Roumanians  have  to-day  some  86,000  Slavic 
colonists,  leading  the  life  of  the  Roumanians,  and  getting 
on  well  with  them. 

The  next  foreign  neighbour  in  numbers,  and  still  more 
in  closeness  of  intercourse  in  everyday  life,  is  the  Jewish 
race,  spread  all  over  the  world,  but  no  doubt  much  more 
diffused  in  Eastern  Europe ;  the  Roumanians  have  to 
deal  with  this  race  in  every  corner  of  land  occupied  by 
them  ;  in  their  own  home,  in  Free  Roumania,  they 
accommodate  no  less  than  400,000  Jews,  probably 
more. 

The  third  race,  as  to  number,  are  the  Gipsies  (the 
Tzigani),  of  which  in  Free  Roumania  alone  there  are 
over  200,000  settled  down,  beside  the  endless  streams  of 
nomads. 

Besides  these  three  races,  of  which  every  Roumanian 
has  a  practical  knowledge,  and  members  of  which  every 
Roumanian  peasant  is  obliged  to  meet,  there  are  many 
other  foreigners,  the  contact  with  w^hom,  however,  is 
more  limited  and  partial.  The  Hungarians,  being  alto- 
gether over  six  and  a  half  millions  (against  the  more 
than  ten  millions  of  Roumanians),  come,  however, 
into  contact  with  Roumanians  only  in  the  regions  of 
Trasylvania  (where  they  constitute  together  with  the 
Secklers  27  per  cent,  of  the  population,  as  against  60  per 
cent,  of  Roumanians),  in  Hungary  proper  and  in  Free 
Roumania,  namely,  in  Moldavia,  where  some  30,000 
Hungarian  settlers  have  lived  for  ages.    With  Germans 


300         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  Roumanian  peasant  comes  into  touch  in  Bukovina, 
where,  however,  they  furnish  a  lower  percentage  than  the 
Ruthenians ;  in  Transylvania  the  Saxon  settlers  are  no 
more  than  10  per  cent. ;  in  Bassarabia,  the  number  of 
German  settlers  is  a  little  above  that  of  the  Russians 
proper ;  in  Free  Roumania,  too,  there  are  rather  sporadic 
German  settlers,  but  living  chiefly  in  towns,  hardly  ever 
in  the  country.  ItaHan  settlers  are  of  recent  date,  but 
their  number  seems  to  be  increasing,  especially  as  road- 
builders  and  stone- workers,  in  which  capacity  they  stream 
in  almost  every  spring.  French  settlers  are  rarer ;  only 
in  towns,  and  almost  all  are  of  the  educated  class.  English 
are  still  rarer,  and  hardly  ever  come  within  touch  of  the 
Roumanian  people.  Of  Armenians  there  are  a  good  many 
about  the  Carpathian  region,  but  they  have  remained 
unassimilated,  keeping  to  their  own  religion  and  usages, 
although  without  any  language  of  their  own.  With  the 
Greek  the  contact  is  more  intimate  :  about  the  Pindus 
they  have  Grecised  numberless  Valachs  or  Armini,  and 
are  still  at  their  undermining  work  ;  about  the  Carpathians 
the  contact  with  the  Greek  has  greatly  diminished,  shrunk 
back  into  the  Danube  valley  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  in 
the  commercial  ports  only;  but  they  used  to  be  very 
intimate  at  one  time,  and  have  not  left  felicitous  memories 
behind.  At  the  feet  of  the  Pindus  the  Valachs  come  into 
nearer  touch  with  the  Albanians,  the  last  representatives 
of  the  most  ancient  among  the  Greeks.  With  the  Turks 
the  Roumanian  nation  has  had  in  the  past  to  deal  on  a 
much  larger  scale  than  it  does  now,  as  Turkey  stretched 
its  suzerainty  at  one  time  high  up  into  the  Carpathians 
and  beyond  the  Dniester  and  the  Black  Sea. 

It  seems  only  natural  that  of  all  the  races  the  Rou- 
manians have  had  to  deal  with,  they  should  have  suffered 
most  at  the  hands  of  the  uncivilised  Mongol  race,  repre- 
sented by  the  Turks  and  their  friends  and  vassals  the 
Tartars  (South  of  Russia  and  the  Crimea).  These  two 
peoples,  indeed,  have  made  themselves  known  to  the  Rou- 
manians by  their  ever  recurring  and  conjointly  planned 
invasions,  during  which  they  plundered  and  sacked  the 
Roumanian  villages,  taking  into  slavery  as  many  men, 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNEES       301 

women,  and  children  as  they  could  lay  hands  upon,  fear 
driving  others  away  to  the  woods  and  mountains,  into 
marshes  and  among  the  bulrushes,  and  any  other  secure 
hiding-places.  The  remembrance  of  those  invasions  is 
still  alive  even  now,  and  the  impressions  of  the  sufferings 
caused  thereby  have  been  crystallised  into  a  popular 
proverb : — 

"  Neither  Turks  nor  Tartars  are  coming,"  * 

to  explain  that  there  is  no  particularly  great  hurry  for  a 
thing. 

No  doubt  all  who  attacked  the  Christian  populations 
under  the  name  of  Turks  were,  truly  speaking,  a  very 
varied  mixture  of  all  sorts  of  Asiatic  tribes,  so  that  whilst 
some  of  them  may  have  left  a  respectable  name  in  history 
and  in  people's  memory,  others,  on  the  contrary,  have 
gathered  for  themselves  and  the  nation  they  represented 
the  worst  possible  reputation.  If  there  were  valorous, 
disciplined  troops  among  the  Turkish  armies,  there  were 
also  disorderly,  undisciplined  hordes  addicted  only  to 
plunder  and  cruelty,  not  very  anxious  about  a  fair  fight 
or  a  good  name  ;  many  a  battle  was  fought  between 
Roumanians  and  Turks,  and  for  a  long  time  the  Rou- 
manians were  victors,  but  in  the  long  run  the  Turks  got 
the  upper  hand,  and  the  Roumanians  had  to  submit. 
Then  the  Turkish  tribes  did  what  they  liked,  never  fearing 
any  check  to  their  misdeeds  from  their  Government  at 
Constantinople.  Thus  the  Roumanian  countries  were 
overrun  by  all  sorts  of  adventurers,  merchants,  extor- 
tioners in  Turkish  garb  and  under  a  Turkish  name, 
individuals  who  by  their  behaviour  have  impressed  upon 
the  unfortunate  populations  the  beUef  that  the  Turk  is — 

"  A  coward  as  to  bravery 
But  skilful  at  treachery."  f 


'  Nu  dau  Turcii  nici  Tatarii." 
'Om  fricos  la  vitejie 
Dar  mooter  la  viclenie." 


302        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

In  the  long  run,  the  Roumanian  came  to  reaHse  that 
what  the  Turk  really  wanted,  as  an  individual  as  well  as 
an  organised  Government,  was  nothing  else  but  money, 
hence  — 

**  Give  the  Turk  money,  and  you  can  put  out  his  eyes."  * 

Many  a  sad  tale  has  the  Roumanian  to  tell  of  those 
times,  when  the  plundering  Turk  took  away  many  of  his 
compatriots  into  slavery  and  enforced  the  Mussulman 
religion  upon  them ;  and  when  the  Turk  in  his  pretended 
commercial  transactions  with  the  Roumanian,  always 
managed  to  put  him  down  as  an  insolvent  debtor,  he 
sold  his  belongings,  his  wife,  his  all,  to  make  up  the 
amount  of  the  debt.     As  a  legend  tells  us  : — 

*'  Three  black  cocks  crowed : 
Three  Turks  in  the  land  thundered: 
'  Sell,  oh  brother,  thy  wife 
And  pay  off  thy  debt  to  me  I ' 

He  sold  vineyards, 

He  sold  lands, 

He  sold  mills.  .  .  . "  f 

The  poor  man  sold  everything,  and  at  last  was  obliged 
to  sell  his  own  wife.  And  it  seems  that  women  fetched 
high  prices  in  those  days,  like  that  particular  one  who 
was  sold  for  thrice  her  weight  in  copper,  silver  and  gold 
coins  respectively,  and  even  the  urdta  cetd^ii  ("  the  ugly 
one  of  the  city ")  fetched  not  less  than  a  bushel  of 
ducats,  another  of  piastres  and  a  third  of  coppers. 
But  it  is  not  seldom  that  the  legend  ends  with  the 
discovery  that  the   buyer   is   no    other   than  the  very 

i!c  4«  Turcului,  da-i  bani  ^i  scoate-i  ochii." 

f  "  Trei  cuco^i  negri  cantara : 
Trei  Turci  in  ^ara  tunara: 
'  Vinde^i  frate  nevasta 
^i  imi  plate^te  darea  I ' 

Vandu  vii 

Vandu  mo^ii 

Vandu  mori.  ..." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       303 

brother  of  the  bought  woman,  himself  carried  away 
by  Turks  in  his  childhood,  and  brought  up  as  a  Turk. 
He  returns  the  wife  to  her  husband,  with  still  larger 
presents  of  money.  Those  hard  times  are  still  alive 
in  the  people's  memory,  as  in  the  following  popular 
song  : — 

"  Green  leaf  of  spare  wheat 
Come  down,  O  Lord,  on  the  earth 
And  see  what  the  Turks  have  done  (bis). 

Many  a  house  they  have  devasted, 
Many  a  child  they  have  orphaned, 
Women  they  have  widowed 
And  destroyed  monasteries."  ••' 


:#* 


\=^: 


S^ 


:m:TT 


1 ■ — ^—^iS 

de      grau     ma  -  runt Co 


On  the  other  hand,  the  Roumanian  has  also  had  to 
deal  with  honest,  humane,  righteous  Turks,  in  whom  he 
has  had  occasion  to  observe  good  qualities,  and  these  the 


"  Frunza  verde  grau  marunt 
Cobori  Doamne  pe  pamant 
^i  vezi  Turcii  ce-au  facut  (bis). 

Multe  case-au  pustiit, 
Mul^i  copii  au  saracit, 
^i  femel  au  vaduvit, 
Manastiri  au  rasipit." 


304         FEOM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Roumanian  has  ever  been  ready  fairly  to  acknowledge 
and  honour.  The  Turk  is  reputed  to  be  a  man  of  his 
word  ^^  om  de  cuvinf  ;  he  kept  his  word  when  he  had 
given  it,  only  it  appears  that  he  did  not  give  it  very 
often,  and  that  not  many  Turks  made  any  ado  about 
giving  and  breaking  their  word.  Again,  the  Roumanian 
appreciates  in  the  Turk  the  rare  virtue  of  gratitude, 
which  he  is  said  to  extend  as  far  down  as  the  seventh 
generation,  in  repayment  of  a  service  received — but 
revenge  does  not  stop  half-way  either,  it  seems.  Turks 
have  been  settled  on  Free  Roumania's  soil  till  lately,  in 
the  Dobrogia ;  but,  very  sensitive  in  their  religious 
feelings,  they  found  it  too  hard  to  abide  under  Christian 
rule,  be  it  as  tolerant  as  can  be,  and  so  they  have 
flocked  again  under  Mahomet's  green  flag,  leaving 
behind  the  name  of  hard-working,  honest,  trustworthy 
labourers.  Not  so  the  Tartars,  who  have  remained 
behind,  not  very  easy  to  deal  with,  sly,  cunning,  and 
not  in  the  least  a  desirable  population  to  the  others. 

With  the  Tartars  the  Roumanians  have  had  to  deal 
ever  since  the  thirteenth  century;  still  more  dreadful 
were  they  than  the  Turks,  with  their  ever-repeated 
invasions.  Hosts  of  quiet,  innocent  people  were  driven 
by  them  into  captivity  and  slavery.  Ghastly  stories 
run  current  among  the  people  about  those  invasions,  and 
the  subsequent  fate  of  the  unfortunate  captives.  As 
one  of  these  stories  will  have  it,  the  captives  were  cooped 
in  large  cages,  at  least  the  youngest  among  them  and 
the  children;  there  they  were  fattened  on  bread  and 
walnuts,  then  thrust  into  large  heated  kilns,  and  roasted 
for  the  Tartar's  dinner.  One  day,  the  Tartars,  being 
all  away  on  their  plundering  pursuits,  left  behind  only 
an  old  Tartar  woman,  to  get  dinner  ready  for  them. 
The  old  woman  heated  the  kiln,  then  went  to  the 
cage,  took  out  a  young  girl  and  led  her  to  the  kiln. 
There  stood  in  readiness  a  long  shovel  with  a  kind  of 
wheel-barrow  in  front,  where  the  captive  was  put  and 
just  pushed  into  the  kiln  ;  she  invited  the  girl :  "  Step, 
girl,  on  the  shovel."  **  Step  on,  baba,  to  show  me." 
The  old  woman  stepped  on  the  barrow  just  to  show 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       305 

the  girl  how  she  should  do  it,  but  the  girl  at  once 
pushed  the  baba  into  the  kiln,  shut  the  opening,  and 
then  running  to  the  cage,  opened  it  for  her  friends  to 
come  out,  and  thus  they  all  fled  homewards.  The 
Tartars,  on  coming  home,  saw  that  the  woman  was  absent, 
but  being  too  hungry  to  wait  for  her  to  turn  up,  they  sat 
down  to  have  their  dinner.  They  took  the  roasted  body 
out  of  the  kiln,  and  began  to  eat  it,  but  finding  it  very 
tough,  they  suspected  the  truth,  ran  to  the  cage  and 
found  it  empty.  They  at  once  set  after  the  fugitives  to 
bring  them  back.  In  the  meantime  the  latter  could 
not  go  very  fast,  not  knowing  the  way  home ;  they  only 
travelled  at  night,  being  led  in  their  wandering  by  the 
Milky  Way,  that  white  strip  on  the  sky  which  from 
times  immemorial  people  have  always  been  told  was  the 
guiding  thread  of  escaped  fugitives,  and  was  therefore 
called  the  "  Slaves'  Way  "  {Galea  Bohilor)  (which  name 
is  just  as  widespread  among  the  people  as  that  of 
"Trajan's  Way").  By  day  they  did  not  travel  at  all, 
but  hid  as  best  they  could  in  marshes,  among  the  high 
bulrushes,  where,  however,  the  Tartars' often  managed 
to  find  them  out,  with  the  aid  of  lapwings,  who  were 
trained  to  fly  about,  and  then*  just  stop  and  hover  above 
the  places  where  they  caught  sight  of  human  beings. 
Somehow,  however,  these  captives,  or  some  of  them  at 
least,  had  the  good  luck  to  reach  Moldavia,  and  lived 
on  to  tell  the  story  of  their  flight  to  their  descendants, 
who  in  due  course  added  to  it  as  much  as  their  own  fancy 
suggested. 

Turk  and  Tartars  are  pagans,  and  consequently 
"unclean"  (spurca^i) ;  their  religion  >is  unclean,  and 
the  Roumanian  peasant  feels  no  respect  towards  it. 
They  eat  fat  on  a  Friday ;  they  do  not  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  the  Roumanian  will  have  nothing  in 
common  with  them.  Let  the  Turk  or  Tartar  stick  to 
his  own  creed,  the  Roumanian  will  not  feel  bound  to  try 
to  convert  him,  but  he  will  also  never  mix  socially  with 
him. 

Towards  his  Christian  neighbours  the  feelings  of  the 
Roumanian  peasant  are  regulated  on  the  same  principle  : 

21 


306         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

if  they  eat  fat  on  a  Friday,  they  are  unclean ;  if  not,  they 
are  all  right.  With  people  of  the  same  Christian  creed 
he  will  wed,  never  with  people  of  a  different  creed,  unless 
in  rare  cases,  when  they  consent  to  adopt  his  own 
creed,  and  come  to  live  in  his  village,  and  speak  his 
language ;  and  so  it  is  that  the  Roumanian  peasant 
has  accomplished  through  centuries,  quite  unconsciously 
and  quietly,  the  greatest  work  of  denationalisation  ever 
done,  not  by  imposing  his  views  upon  others,  but  just 
by  loyally  sticking  to  his  own.  Thus  his  character  has 
been  moulded,  in  the  long  run,  to  reserve,  to  indifference 
towards  other  peoples,  but  at  the  same  time  to  tolerance, 
in  reHgion  as  in  everything  else.  Thus  it  is  that  the 
Roumanian  peasant,  with  all  his  superstitions  and  in 
some  ways  narrow  views,  is  tolerant,  large-minded,  even 
high-minded,  towards  his  fellow-creatures  : — 

"Do  in  thy  life  ever  good, 
Even  to  the  foreign  *  nations."  f 

It  is  nevertheless  true  that  upon  his  foreign  neighbour 
the  Roumanian  peasant  looks  rather  down  than  up;  a 
little  of  the  Roman  pride  seems  to  have  trickled  down 
into  his  descendant's  veins,  and  he  is  ever  ready  to 
believe  himself  the  superior  of  his  foreign  fellow-man. 
The  Russian,  taken  as  an  individual,  is  supposed  to  be 
a  rough  kind  of  being,  eating  raw  vegetables;  the  pig 
is  metaphorically  called  "  a  Russian  with  a  rouble  in  his 
snout."  The  word  ''  moujik,"  meaning  simply  peasant 
in  Russian,  has  been  adopted  in  the  Roumanian  voca- 
bulary only  as  an  epithet  of  great  scorn,  to  mean  a 
coarse,  churhsh,  ill-bred  fellow — mojic.  The  Russian  is 
supposed  to  be  of  a  greedy  nature.  An  anecdote  tells  us 
that  a  Russian  went  into  a  shop  to  buy  some  cheese, 
but  somehow  he  managed  to  buy  soap  instead.  He  went 
home  and  sat  down  to  supper,  but  on  beginning  to  eat 

*  Nation  and  religion  are  equal  notions  in  the  peasant's  mind,  and 
both  are  rendered  by  "  lege  "  =  law. 

f  "Fa  in  via^a  ta  tot  bine, 
Chiar  §i  legilor  straine." 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       307 

found  the  cheese  rather  tough  and  of  particularly  high 
flavour ;  oh,  but  he  would  not  lose  his  money. 

"  He  shall  eat  even  to  bursting, 
Ivan  gave  money  for  it!"  * 

has  become  quite  a  common  proverb. 

The  Russian  is  said  to  be  a  cheat  even  in  his  gratitude  : 
A  Russian  was  very  ill ;  when  everything  had  been  tried 
and  found  useless  for  his  recovery,  he  had  recourse  to 
the  help  of  the  saints — namely,  to  St.  Nicolai,  to  whom 
he  promised  that  if  the  saint  cured  him,  he  would  sell 
his  horse,  and  with  the  whole  price  of  it  have  an  immense 
taper  made  and  light  it  in  front  of  the  saint's  image. 
He  recovered.  But  as  to  the  fulfilment  of  his  vow,  he 
took  his  horse  to  market,  along  with  a  cock,  insisting 
on  selling  them  together,  but  asking  one  hundred  roubles 
for  the  cock  and  one  rouble  for  the  horse.  At  last 
he  comes  to  terms  for  eighty  and  one  half  rouble  respec- 
tively, pockets  the  eighty  roubles,  and  with  the  half 
rouble  buys  a  taper,  which  he  lights  in  front  of  the 
saint's  image,  with  prayers  and  assurances  that  he  had 
done  all  that  was  in  his  power  for  the  satisfaction  of 
the  vow. 

But  with  the  Russian  at  large  the  Roumanian  has 
hardly  ever  had  occasion  to  meet  on  peaceful  friendly 
footing ;  it  is  much  rather  during  wars,  and  invasions, 
and  plunderings,  and  military  occupations  that  they 
have  learned  to  know  each  other,  and  so  there  is  no 
wonder  at  all  that  from  Bassarabian  folklore  we  should 
gather — 

"Than  the  Christian  Muscovite 
Much  better  the  pagan  Turk  I  "  f 

The  German — truly  speaking,  the  Austrian,  with  whom 
the  Roumanian  has  had  most  to  do — is  supposed  to  be, 

'•^  "I  mancEl,  i  crap^,  Ivan  bani  dat." 

f  "  Decat  Moscalu  cre^tin 

Mult  mai  bine  Turc  pagan  I  " 


308         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

in  the  first  place,  rather  addicted  to  drink :  "  He  has 
taken  the  German's  pipe"  {A  luat  luleana  Neamtului)^ 
is  said  of  a  tipsy  man.  Conceited  and  self-rehant,  but 
weak  at  the  bottom,  courage  is  not  supposed  to  be  his 
strong  point.  An  anecdote  tells  that  a  Roumanian  met 
a  German  stepping  proudly  forward  with  a  rifle  on  his 
shoulder  and  a  dog  at  his  heels  : — 

"  Where  are  you  going,  German  ?  " 

"  To  the  war  !  " 

*'  But  what  do  you  take  your  dog  for  ?  " 

**  I  will  cut  up  Turks  and  feed  him  with  them." 

After  some  time,  they  met  again,  the  German  humble 
and  hungry  looking. 

**  Where  are  you  coming  from,  German  ?  " 

"  From  the  war  "  (in  a  weak,  depressed  tone). 

**  And  the  dog,  where  is  he  ?  " 

"  I've  cut  him  up  and  eaten  him." 

The  German  finds  it  very  hard  to  learn  Roumanian, 
and  even  if  he  does  learn  it,  never  pronounces  it  well. 
An  old  German  is  said  to  have  been  settled  down  as 
shoemaker  in  a  small  country  town;  after  fifty  years 
of  residence  there  he  knew  no  Roumanian,  and  is 
reported  to  have  exclaimed  in  disgust :  "  How  stupid 
these  Roumanians  are ;  fifty  years  I  have  lived  among 
them,  and  they  know  no  German  yet !  "  On  the  other 
hand,  Germans  are  supposed  to  be  very  clever  with 
their  hands;  every  mechanical  progress  is  ascribed  to 
them — probably  because  the  Germans  started  the  first 
railways  in  Roumania.  Electricity  and  steam  engines 
are  called  *'  devilries  of  the  German." 

The  Hungarian  does  not  enjoy  much  sympathy,  and 
not  without  reason,  although,  as  far  as  my  experience 
goes,  hatred  would  never  have  sprung  up  between  nations 
if  Governments  had  not  been  there  to  kindle  and  foster 
it.  People  of  different  nations  might  have  liked  or 
dishked  each  other,  silently,  individually,  for  racial  or 
individual  good  or  evil  quahties;  they  might  have  kept 
apart  from  each  other,  or  mixed  and  unconsciously  in- 
fluenced one  another,  as  they  always  have  done  at  the 
times   when    politics  were  in  their  infancy,   but  with 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       309 

Government  persecutions  it  is  quite  natural  that  national 
hatred  should  have  been  born.  No  doubt,  it  is  the  young 
civilisation,  the  new-born  national  feelings  that  have 
done  it ;  let  us  hope  that  a  ripe  civilisation,  a  higher 
stage  of  human  thought  and  feeling,  v^ill  atone  for  it. 
Very  conceited  and  vain  is  the  Hungarian  supposed 
to  be,  caring  for  nothing  on  earth  but  his  mustachio 
and  spurs  and  his  horse,  if  he  has  got  one.  Very  likely 
the  reciprocal  opinion  of  the  Hungarian  about  the  Rou- 
manian is  not  much  more  amiable;  at  any  rate,  this 
is  what  the  Roumanian  thinks  about  the  Hungarian. 
Cunning  and  clever  at  stealing : — 


"All  through  the  length  of  the  country 
No  thief  like  the  Hungarian : 
At  night  he  steals, 
By  day  he  swears  "  * — 


says  one  of  the  popular  satires.  Not  much  discern- 
ment to  boast  of,  with  all  that.  An  anecdote  reports 
that  a  Hungarian  went  to  town,  got  drunk,  and  somehow 
lost  one  of  his  spurs.  On  his  way  home  he  could  not 
get  farther  than  half-way,  and  dropped  down  and  fell 
asleep.  A  carriage  comes  along;  the  hurried  driver 
shouts  to  him  to  draw  up  his  leg ;  the  Hungarian  awakes, 
looks  at  his  leg  for  a  while,  then  says  quietly  : — 

*'  Drive  on,  it  is  not  my  foot ;  don't  you  see  it  has  got 
no  spur  on  ?  " 

Another  anecdote  tells  us  about  two  soldiers,  a  Hun- 
garian and  a  Roumanian,  both  in  the  infirmary  after 
a  battle. 

The  Roumanian  says  :  "  How  is  it,  Janosh,  that  you  can 
keep  quiet  so  well  when  the  attendant  comes  to  straighten 
your  leg,  while  I  can't  help  shrieking  like  a  madman 
when  he  attends  to  me?" 


^'  "  Cdt  e  ^ara  de-a  lungul 
Nu-i  talhar  ca  Ungurul : 
Noaptea  fura, 
Ziua  jura." 


310         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"Oh,"  says  the  Hungarian,  "you  are  only  a  stupid 
Roumanian,  that  is  why ;  I  am  a  Hungarian,  my  man, 
and  not  so  stupid  as  to  give  him  the  wounded  leg  to 
rub ;  I  just  give  him  the  sound  one,  and  it  does  not  hurt 
a  bit !  " 

A  not  very  complimentary  legend  is  told  about  the 
origin  of  the  Hungarian.  At  the  time  when  Christ 
walked  on  earth,  with  His  faithful  St.  Peter,  this  saint 
repeatedly  made  the  request  : — 

"Lord,  you  who  are  so  powerful,  and  have  made  so 
many  things  and  beings  out  of  nothing,  do  make  a 
Hungarian  also  !  " 

"Oh  no,  Peter,"  answered  the  Lord;  "you  do  not 
know  what  you  are  asking  for ;  we  shall  get  into  trouble 
with  him,  if  I  make  a  Hungarian." 

But  as  Peter  insisted,  the  Lord  decided  to  satisfy 
his  wish,  and  just  stooped  down  on  the  road,  with 
shut  eyes,  to  take  anything  that  might  happen  to  be 
at  hand,  as  a  groundwork  for  His  creation.  He  hap- 
pened to  pick  up  some  refuse,  and  of  this  he  made 
the  Hungarian.  But  the  latter  was  hardly  made,  when 
he  drew  up  his  mustachio,  clapped  his  feet  to  make  his 
spurs  clink,  and  shouted  "  Passport !  "  in  a  voice  that 
startled  both  the  Creator  and  His  companion. 

"Well  now,  Peter,  didn't  I  tell  you?"  said  the 
Almighty,  very  much  taken  aback,  as  they  had  no 
passports  in  those  times. 

The  Servian  is  reputed  as  particularly  dull-minded, 
unable  to  distinguish  "  a  boot  from  a  pipe." 

The  Bulgarian  has  always  been  looked  upon  in  a  more 
friendly  way,  if  not  exactly  much  more  complimentary, 
but  feelings  may  possibly  change  for  the  worse  if  political 
circumstances  do  not  improve. 

Still  truer  friends  have  the  Albanese  always  been 
reckoned :  "  Valach  and  Albanese,  brothers,"  goes  the 
saying,  but  this  only  in  as  far  as  both  are  Christians ;  but 
unfortunately  most  of  the  one  million  and  a  half  of 
Albanese  in  existence  have  gone  over  to  Islam,  and, 
together  with  their  co-religionists  the  Turks,  are  joining 
hands  to  crush  their  Christian  brothers,  or  rather,  the 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNEES       311 

stronger  among  them  unite  to  crush  the  best  of  the 
poorer  population. 

The  Greek  has  never  been  a  great  friend  to  the  Rou- 
manian, and,  moreover,  was  very  much  hated  in  old 
times  :  his  name  is  hardly  to  be  met  vs^ith  in  the  Rou- 
manian folklore  without  the  hardest  epithets ;  the  re- 
putation of  heartless,  cheating,  cowardly,  has  remained 
with  him.  Extremely  conceited  and  vain  besides,  often 
a  dupe  to  his  own  vanity.  As  an  anecdote  reports,  a 
Greek  went  once  into  a  barber's  shop,  and  whilst  the 
barber  was  busy  with  another  customer,  he  sat  down  on 
a  chair  to  wait  for  his  turn.  The  barber,  however,  had 
seen  the  Greek,  but  acted  as  if  he  had  not,  wanting  to 
play  a  practical  joke  on  him.  So  he  went  on  speaking 
to  the  man  in  his  hands : — 

"  I  do  hate  soap  and  water !  they  make  one  so  dirty. 
And  really,  when  you  come  to  think  of  it,  they  are 
rather  things  for  women's  usage ;  now,  in  Athens,  for 
instance,  no  Archonda  Palicar  (nobleman)  would  ever 
use  soap  and   water;  they  simply  shave  dry." 

After  having  finished  with  his  first  customer,  he  took 
the  basin  with  soap  and  water  and  made  towards  the 
Greek  : — 

"  You  wish  to  be  shaved,  I  presume  ?  " 

"Yes,  but  no  soap  or  water,  please,  we  only  shave 
dry  in  Athens,  I  am  an  Archonda  Palicar." 

The  barber  set  to  work,  but  the  Greek  stopped  him 
after  a  while. 

''Look  here,  my  friend,  I  am  not  quite  a  Palicar; 
you  might  just  as  well  take  a  little  water." 

But  as  the  razor  wouldn't  go  any  smoother — 

"  You  really  may  take  more  water,  I  am  no  Palicar 
at  all !  " 

And  as  the  shaving  was  just  as  hard  to  bear — 

"  Well,  you  see,  just  take  some  soap,  I  am  not  quite 
from  Athens,  but  only  from  the  suburbs  !  " 

As  the  result,  however,  was  still  far  from  satis- 
factory : — 

*'  Look  here,  use  as  much  soap  as  is  necessary,  I  am 
not  from  Athens  at  all,  but  a  hundred  miles  away !  " 


312         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Empty  pride  seems  to  have  always  been  the  striking 
characteristic  of  the  Greek ;  whenever  Greeks  came  into 
the  Roumanian  principaHties  of  old  they  all  wanted  to 
be  taken  for  nobles  and  to  be  looked  up  to  by  the  Rou- 
manians. An  old  anecdote  relates  that  during  their 
good  time  in  these  countries,  a  Greek  was  asked  where 
he  was  going  by  a  Roumanian  he  had  met  with,  in  the 
latter's  simple  way  : — 

"  Where  are  you  going,  man  ?  " 

"I  am  not  a  man,  I  am  a  Greek!  "  was  the  proud 
answer. 

Later  on,  after  the  revolution  of  1821  and  the  over- 
throw of  Greek  rule,  they  happened  to  meet  again  : — 

"  How  are  you,  Greek  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  a  Greek,  I  am  a  Roumanian." 

"  But  what  are  you  doing  there  ?  " 

"  Eh,  I  am  pasturing  jpencZ^,  exi  (five  or  six)  pigs  !  " 

They  are  not  pasturing  pigs  now,  neither  are  there 
many  of  them  among  the  people  of  Free  Roumania, 
except  as  merchants "  in 'towns ;  and  clever  merchants 
they  are  too,  making  fortunes  in  no  time ;  and  a  strong 
reputation  they  have  as  sly,  cheating  merchants.  The 
palm  of  slyness,  however,  has  been  bestowed,  rightly 
or  wrongly,  upon  the  Armenian,  much  more  than  on 
the  Greek,  by  the  popular  mind  which  has  invented 
this  gradation  among  the  foreign  merchants  it  has  had 
to  deal  with :  a  Jew  can  cheat  seven  Roumanians ;  a 
Greek  can  cheat  seven  Jews,  but  an  Armenian  can  cheat 
seven  Greeks. 

The  Armenians  have  settled  down  among  the  Rou- 
manians of  the  Carpathian  region  in  colonies  as  old  as  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  have  lived  apart,  and  have  been 
kept  at  a  distance,  on  account  of  religious  differences ; 
the  reciprocal  distrust  and  dislike  has  been  very  much 
fed  by  the  Greeks,  who  fought  a  long  while  with  the 
Armenians  for  the  supremacy  of  their  respective  archi- 
episcopal  sees.  Through  the  Greek  clergy  a  number  of 
beliefs  have  been  introduced  among  the  people  about 
supposed  Armenian  superstitions  and  usages,  which  make 
them  in  the  peasant's  mind  the  uncleanest  among  unclean 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       313 

people.  A  peasant  will  hardly  eat  anything  from  an 
Armenian.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cleanliness  of  the 
Armenian  house  is  readily  acknowledged  : — 

"  Sleep  with  the  Armenian,  eat  with  the  Jew."  * 

Indeed,  if  the  Jews  ever  enjoyed  a  good  name,  it  has 
been  only  with  regard  to  the  cleanliness  of  their  food; 
this  character  is  founded  on  the  extreme  anxiety  of  the 
Jews  to  eat  nothing  but  kusher  (food  allowed  by 
their  religious  official,  the  haham).  Otherwise,  there 
exists  no  filthier  or  more  contemptible  race  than  the 
Jew  in  the  popular  mind.  Cheating,  fraudulent,  sly, 
cowardly,  false,  obsequious,  there  exists  no  vile  epithet 
ever  thought  too  bad  for  the  Jew.  And  the  fact  is 
that  the  Jew  never  minds,  still  less  revolts  against,  any 
scornful  appellation,  but  is  ever  ready  to  accept  any 
demonstration  of  disdain,  if  only  a  penny  can  thereby 
be  gained.  The  Carpathian  Jews,  living  about  Eou- 
mania,  Transylvania,  Bukovina,  Bassarabia,  come  mostly 
from  Poland  and  Russia.  They  are  quite  a  different  type 
from  the  English  Jew ;  always  fair — with  few  exceptions 
— with  red,  thinly  curled  hair,  conspicuously  freckled 
face,  which  is  explained  by  the  people  thus: — 

After  Christ's  crucifixion  and  resurrection,  some  Jews 
sitting  round  their  table  at  dinner  were  talking  about  the 
event.  A  tureen  of  soup,  in  the  midst  of  which  swam  a 
boiled  cock,  was  on  the  table.  They  would  not  at  all  agree 
as  to  the  resurrection,  but  one  of  them  said  that  if  that 
were  possible,  the  cock  in  the  tureen  might  as  well  return 
to  life.  At  this  the  cock,  with  a  mighty  crow,  jumped 
out  flapping  his  wings,  and  besprinkled  them  all  over 
with  soup,  and  hence  the  freckles.  The  Jew  wears 
an  oriental  costume  :  a  long,  black  tallar,  breeches  to 
the  knees,  long  white  dirty  stockings  in  slippers ;  a 
black  velvet  cap  with  a  large  brim  of  fur,  like  a  fox's 
tail,  on  the  head;  the  hair  cut   short,  except  two   long 


*  "  Sa  dormi  la  Arman,  sa  m^nanci  la  Jidan. 


314         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

curls  in  front  of  the  ears,  called  pertchiuni.  This  is 
the  type  to  be  met  with  on  the  northern  and  eastern 
slopes  of  the  Carpathians,  particularly  in  Moldavia, 
where  the  population  being  meeker  and  more  patient, 
and  of  less  warlike  energy,  they  have  found  it  easier 
to  have  their  own  way.  In  towns  that  costume  is 
almost  entirely  given  up,  and  is  to  be  met  with  only 
on  Saturdays,  here  and  there.  All  these  Jews,  although 
supposed  to  come  from  Russia  or  Galicia,  invariably 
speak  German — a  broken  German,  but  still  German. 
To  pronounce  Roumanian  is  very  hard  for  them,  and 
you  hardly  ever  come  across  one  who  does  it  well ;  as 
a  rule,  the  Jew  is  immediately  recognisable  by  his  accent. 
The  Jews,  like  any  other  aliens,  have  the  right  to  buy 
properties  in  town,  but  not  in  the  country,  and  a  blessing 
it  is  so,  for  otherwise,  thanks  to  the  extravagance  of  the 
large  Roumanian  landowners,  all  large  properties  would 
by  now  be  in  Jewish  hands,  as  they  are  in  Hungary 
and  Transylvania,  where  about  a  quarter  of  the  rural 
property  is  said  to  be  already  in  their  possession.  But 
they  have  the  right  to  farm  land,  and  they  find  it 
lucrative,  very  lucrative;  and  whilst  the  sons  of  great 
national  landowners  are  struggling  in  towns,  looking 
for  posts  with  salaries,  the  Jews  make  fortunes  on 
their  lands,  caring  for  nothing  but  money-making, 
despoiling  peasant  as  well  as  land  of  their  last  productive 
power.  Poor  Jews,  who  keep  in  hand  all  the  town 
commerce,  manage  also  to  keep  shops  in  villages,  and 
very  often  public-houses  too,  where  with  adulterated 
drink  and  crafty  speculation  in  human  weakness  and 
dry  throats,  they  have  ever  been  busy,  doing  no  end 
of  harm  to  the  rural  populations.  Their  real  power, 
however,  is  in  towns,  but  these  are  beyond  our  present 
scope. 

Popular  humour,  in  village  and  town,  has  found  a 
wide  field  in  the  various  characteristics  of  the  Jewish 
race,  greed  for  money  and  love  of  gain  being  the  all- 
prevailing  ones.  An  anecdote  says  that  a  Jew — or  rather 
his  soul — went  once  to  heaven,  and  taking  the  guardian 
angel  unawares  walked  into  God's  gardens.    When  the 


THE   PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       315 

angel  caught  sight  of  him  he  tried  all  means  to  get  him 
out,  but  in  vain :  the  Jew  maintained  that  he  had  as 
much  right  as  anybody  else  to  be  there,  as  there  was 
no  entrance  fee  to  be  paid.  St.  Peter  was  called,  and 
tried  to  reason  the  Jew  out  of  Paradise,  but  with  no 
greater  success  ;  neither  could  David  or  Solomon  persuade 
him  to  leave  heaven.  But  a  little  angel  took  a  drum, 
and  standing  outside  of  the  wall  of  heaven,  began  to 
drum  noisily.  "What  is  the  matter?  "  was  the  general 
inquiry.  "An  auction."  "Oh,  wait  a  moment,"  the 
Jew  ejaculated,  "  I  will  bid ! "  and  out  he  fled,  and  the 
doors  were  closed  upon  him. 

Another  anecdote  tells  us  that  a  Jew  was  being  fiercely 
beaten  by  a  Roumanian,  without  the  slightest  attempt 
on  his  part  to  retaliate  or  in  any  way  escape  his 
punishment ;  when  asked  afterwards  why  he  did  not  at 
least  run  away:  "Well,"  said  he,  "I  had  my  foot  on 
a  stray  halfpenny!" 

Jews  are  very  timorous,  always  afraid  of  handling 
weapons ;  army  service  is  not  to  their  liking  either.  A 
Jew  recruit,  an  anecdote  tells  us,  pretended  to  be  stone- 
deaf  in  order  to  escape  service,  and  nothing  on  earth 
could  induce  him  to  betray  himself  till  at  last  the  captain 
said,  "  Oh,  let  him  go,  he  is  stone-deaf !  "  But  a  soldier 
at  his  back  said  in  an  undertone,  "  Who  lost  this  half- 
penny?" "Oh,  it  is  I,  to  be  sure!"  exclaimed  the 
Jew. 

Another  anecdote  says  that  the  Jews,  rather  loth 
to  be  always  thought  of  as  cowards,  decided  to  raise 
of  their  own  accord  an  army  on  foot,  and  started  for 
the  war.  For  a  while  all  went  on  smoothly  enough ; 
they  marched  bravely  all  day  long,  and  slept  in  the  open 
at  night,  but  when  attacked  by  a  dog  from  a  mill  they 
happened  to  pass,  they  stopped  and  held  council,  and 
decided  to  go  back  and  appoint  some  Roumanians  to 
defend  the  army  against  dogs ! 

No  end  of  anecdotes  illustrate  all  sides  of  the  Jewish 
character,  but  a  last  one  will  suf&ce,  pointing  out  the 
difference  of  occupation  of  the  Jews  as  compared  to  the 
Christian  inhabitants  of  the  country.     Men   of  several 


316        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

nations — a  Turk,  a  Russian,  a  Hungarian,  and  a  Jew — 
once  were  discussing  the  possible  nationality  of  Adam ; 
every  one  of  them  thought  Adam  had  been  of  his  own 
nation,  but  the  Jew,  on  the  authority  of  the  Bible, 
maintained  that  Adam  was  a  Jew.  The  others,  not 
having  such  strong  authority  as  the  Bible  to  rely  upon, 
seemed  inclined  to  accept  his  statement,  when  a  Rou- 
manian just  passing  by  was  asked  his  opinion.  *'  Well, 
you  see,"  he  said,  *'  when  Adam  was  driven  out  of  heaven, 
had  he  been  a  Jew,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  opened  a 
public-house,  instead  of  which  he  started  tilling  the  ground, 
which  shows  him  to  have  been  a  good  Christian  like  us." 

The  Jews  never  take  to  field  labour,  as  so  many  other 
foreigners,  coming  from  afar  every  summer,  are  doing; 
indeed,  they  do  not  care  for  any  hard  physical  work. 
Even  in  towns  the  poorest  Jewess  will  always  get  a 
Roumanian  or  gipsy  woman  to  wash  her  linen,  or  to 
do  the  heavier  part  of  the  house  cleaning;  they  spare 
themselves  much  more  than  the  Roumanians  do. 
Besides,  money-making  is  much  easier  for  them,  the 
poorest  Jew  finding,  like  the  richest,  the  means  of  being, 
besides  his  other  business,  a  bit  at  least  of  a  pawn- 
broker and  dreadful  usurer,  ever  ready  for  the  wants 
of  the  Roumanian  spendthrift. 

But  the  true  subject  of  Roumanian  humour  and  of 
Roumanian  jokes,  the  mark  for  his  fun  and  ridicule,  is 
no  doubt  the  very  peculiar  and  in  many  ways  funny 
gipsy,  the  Tzigan. 

Almost  in  every  village,  in  the  outskirts  of  most 
of  the  towns,  in  many  woods,  you  are  sure  to  come  across 
gipsy  settlements,  gipsy  huts,  bordeie,  in  numbers  more 
or  less  large.  These  are  settled  gipsies,  who  lead, 
nevertheless,  a  more  or  less  nomadic  life  in  the  country 
itself,  going  away  in  summer  for  work  or  theft,  returning 
for  the  winter  to  their  shabby  huts.  They  hardly  ever 
live  in  houses  above  ground,  and  even  then  it  is  rare 
that  these  should  be  whitewashed,  but  they  are  brushed 
over  with  grey  clay  or  even  left  in  their  first  clay  plaster- 
ing; their  usual  dwellings  are  huts  dug  in  the  ground, 
with  only  a  slanting  roof  appearing  on  the  outside;  in 


rr  -ME 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


Gypsy  Camp. 


\_Photo,  J.  Cazahan. 


To  face  page  317. 


Gypsies  as  Tradesmen. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       317 

the  middle  of  the  hut  they  make  the  fire,  the  smoke  going 
out  through  a  large  chimney  in  the  roof.  Hearths  and 
ovens  are  seldom  to  be  met  with  in  gipsies'  huts.  They 
lead  a  very  low  kind  of  life,  representing  the  lowest  stage 
of  humanity.  There  are  several  kinds  of  gipsies.  The 
superior  kind  seems  to  be  that  of  the  Ursari,  those  who 
deal  with  bears  (from  urs^  bear) ,  taming  and  then  leading 
them  about  to  dance ;  but  that  is  not  their  chief  trade : 
these  are  said  to  be  gipsies  of  many  trades,  making  also 
caldrons  and  kettles,  and  their  wives  tell  fortunes.  An 
even  less  noble  kind  of  gipsies  are  the  Lingurari,  whose 
original  trade  seems  to  have  been  the  making  of  spoons 
(linguri).  Most  of  these,  settled  down  in  the  villages 
and  towns,  are  the  descendants  of  the  old  slaves,  who 
were  given  their  liberty  only  in  the  last  generation. 
But  the  universal  trade  of  the  gipsies,  for  which  every 
one  of  them  seems  to  have  some  talent,  is  that  of  being 
Idutari  (musicians) ;  so  much  so  that  a  musician  playing 
at  the  Sunday  dance,  at  the  wedding,  or  any  other 
rejoicing,  is  called  simply  a  tzigan.  The  gipsies  have  a 
peculiar  organisation  among  themselves,  some  remnant 
of  an  old  patriarchal  organisation ;  they  have  a  chief 
called  bulibasha,  to  whom,  however,  they  seem  to  tender 
only  a  loose  kind  of  obedience.  This  organisation  causes 
some  amusement ;  I  knew  of  a  gipsy  settlement  with 
a  bulibasha  whom  they  called  nothing  less  than  "God." 
As  for  their  notorious,  universal  trade,  they  are  thieves, 
and  many  crimes  have  been  and  are  still  over  and  over  again 
discovered  of  their  doing.  Still  greater  thieves  are  the 
nomad  gipsies,  those  who  only  pass  across  the  country, 
just  temporarily  settling  down  in  camps  and  canvas 
tents,  with  their  travelling  stithies,  '  their  multifarious 
work  cheating,  fortune  telling,  and  far-reaching  thefts. 
Yet  the  gipsy  is  looked  upon  by  the  Roumanian  peasant 
only  as  a  queer,  ridiculous  kind  of  human  being ;  rather 
harmless,  with  all  his  stealing  and  lying,  easily  caught ; 
rather  clever,  but  of  a  naive,  fooHsh  sort  of  cleverness, 
and  that  exactly  makes  the  gipsy  a  fit  subject  for  amusing 
anecdotes.  The  gipsy  is  really  the  Hving  plaything 
of  the  good-humoured  Roumanian  peasant.     "A  gipsy 


318         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

is  not  like  a  man"  {Tiganu  nu-i  ca  ormc),  says  he;  he 
does  everything  wrong,  he  was  created  hke  that.  A 
httle  anecdote  establishes  this  scale  for  the  gipsy — not 
very  easy  to  render,  its  wit  lying  chiefly  in  the  double 
meaning  of  words  : — 

A  Turk,  a  Roumanian  and  a  gipsy  went  to  God  to  ask 
for  some  gift.     The  Turk  entered  first. 

*'What  do  you  wish?"  asked  God. 

**Well,  Lord"  (Bine,  Doamwe— that  is,  '*it  is  well," 
a  typical  answer  of  the  Roumanian  peasant  when  asked 
what  he  has  come  for ;  bine  means  also  well-being) . 

"  Well-being,  shall  you  have  in  the  world,"  was  the 
Lord's  answer,  taking  thus  the  second  meaning  of  the 
word  bine. 

Enters  the  Roumanian. 

"What  do  you  wish?"  asks  God  again. 

"  Well,  Lord,"  says  the  Roumanian. 

**  The  well-being  lias  been  taken  by  the  Turk." 

"And  I?"  (in  Roumanian  Dar,  meaning  "and,"  or 
"  but  "  but  also  gift,  whence  dar7iic= generous,  giver). 

"  Darnic  (generous),  shall  you  be !  "  answered  God. 

Enters  the  gipsy. 

"What  do  you  wish?" 

"  Well,  Lord." 

"  The  well-being  has  been  taken  by  the  Turk." 

"But  (dar)  I?" 

"  The  dar  (the  gift)  has  been  taken  by  the  Rou- 
manian." 

"  What  derision  and  scorn  is  this,  Lord  ?  "  retorted  the 
wrathful,  ill-bred  gipsy. 

"  Derision  and  scorn  shall  be  yours  !  " 

And  thus  it  is  that  a  gipsy  looks  always  ridiculous  and 
is  always  laughed  at. 

A  good  many  proverbs  are  attributed  to  gipsy  ex- 
periences. "Another  goose  in  the  other  bag" — which 
means  :  "that  is  another  question" — is  explained  by  the 
following  anecdote.  A  gipsy  went  one  night  and  stole 
two  geese,  putting  one  in  each  partition  of  the  wallet 
he  wore  aslant  his  shoulder.  On  going  away,  he  met  a 
man  who  asked  what  he  had  in  the  front  bag.     "  Some 


THE   PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       319 

corn,"  was  his  answer.  **  But  in  the  other  bag?'* 
**  Another  goose,  "  was  the  too  hasty  answer. 

A  very  expressive  proverb  again  is  this :  *'  He  has 
eaten  his  credit,  like  the  gipsy  his  church,"  which  arose 
from  the  following  anecdote.  The  gipsies  decided  once 
to  build  a  church  of  their  own,  but,  as  they  were  to  spend 
money  on  it,  they  wanted  it  to  be  everlasting,  so  they 
held  a  council  to  discuss  the  affair,  but  could  not  agree 
as  to  the  material  to  be  used.  They  thought  of  building 
it  of  wood,  "  but  wood  rots  and  does  not  last  as  long  as 
the  world;"  they  tried  to  have  it  of  iron,  "  but  iron  grows 
rusty  and  has  no  everlasting  durability ;  "  to  make  it  of 
stone,  "the  stone  breaks  and  does  not  last  for  ever," 
either.  At  last  they  agreed  to  make  it  of  cheese — and 
once,  when  they  were  very  hungry,  they  ate  it. 

The  gipsy  is  endowed  with  very  lively  imagination. 
A  gipsy  is  said  to  have  found  a  horseshoe;  he  brought 
it  home,  and  to  the  eager  inquiries  of  the  little  gipsy 
crowd  (da7ici),  he  explained  that  this  was  a  horseshoe 
and  that  four  of  them  were  wanted  for  the  shoeing  of 
the  horse ;  and  then  he  went  on  to  say  that  if  father  found 
three  more  shoes  by  chance,  and  then  if  father  had  the 
good  luck  to  find  a  mare  also,  he  would  shoe  her,  and 
then  have  a  fine  ride  on  horseback ;  and  maybe  in  time 
the  mare  might  have  a  little  colt — "A  dear  little  pied 
colt,  which  I  shall  mount!  "  shouted  merrily  one  of  the 
little  gipsy  boys.  ''  Thou  nasty  wretch  !  I  will  teach  thee 
to  mount  such  a  young  colt  and  break  his  back,"  shouted 
the  irate  father;  "I  shall  never  forgive  thee  that !"  and 
he  beat  his  too  imaginative  offspring. 

He  is  much  disposed  to  dreams  of  grandeur,  which 
usually  end  in  blows  upon  his  back,  poor  dreamer!  A 
gipsy  on  horseback,  a  caldron  behind,  set  forth,  very 
proud  of  his  appearance,  thinking  all  along  how  good- 
looking  he  must  be,  like  a  St.  George  on  his  horse ;  he 
might  verily  be  taken  for  an  emperor!  And  how  he 
would  laugh  then  !  Oh  no,  that  would  not  do  ;  laughing 
would  not  be  right  surely  for  an  emperor  I  And  thus  he 
rode  on,  soHloquising  on  his  possible  greatness.  But  he 
was  overheard  by  a  cow  drover,  who  at  once  took  in  the 
situation,  and  began  to  cheer  the  would-be  emperor. 


320        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"  Great  emperor,  have  pity  upon  a  blind  man !  ** 
"  Well  now,"   thought   the  emperor,  "  there  must  be 
something  in  it,  if  even  a  blind  man  can  see  I  am  like  an 
emperor ;  fate  may  be  fulfilling  itself  after  all." 
'*  Great  emperor !  "  resumed  the  drover. 
"  How  do  you  know  I  am  an  emperor  ?  " 
**  On  hearing  such  a  noisy  rider,  I  thought  he  could  not 
but  be  an  emperor  !     And  I  am  blind,  and  a  monk  said  to 
me  that  if  I  could  get  the  chance  of  wiping  my  eyes  with 
the  hair  of  an  emperor  I  should  see  again." 

The  credulous  gipsy  bent  his  head,  the  drover  took 
in  hand  his  long  locks,  and  pulled  and  pulled,  and  beat 
him,  and  took  horse  and  all  from  him.  The  poor  gipsy 
ran  away  without  stopping,  till  he  met  a  man,  to  whom 
he  said,  "  If  you  go  that  way,  just  take  care  of  yourself; 
there  is  a  blind  beast  there  which  takes  you  smoothly 
at  first,  and  honours  you,  until  he  gets  your  hair  into 
his  clasp,  then  there  is  work  for  you  to  get  away." 

Always  hungry,  always  on  the  look-out  for  something 
to  eat,   to  lay  hands  on,  over  and  over  again  caught, 
always  short  of  resourceful  inventiveness,   a  gipsy  was 
caught  by  a  Roumanian  in  his  garden,  stealing  onions. 
"  How  came  you  herej,  gipsy  ?  " 
"  The  wind  blew  me,  Roumanian." 
"  But  what  is  your  hand  doing  on  that  onion  ?  " 
"  I  am  holding  it  tight  so  as  not  to  be  taken  again  by 
the  wind." 

"  But  then  what  are  those  onions  doing  in  your  bag?  " 
"  Well,  that  is  just  it,  don't  you  see,  dear  Roumanian!  " 
No  power  of  invention,  but  ready  at  ridiculous  imita- 
tion.    A  gipsy  was  said  to  have  stolen  a  gun  and  was 
taken  before  the  judge.    A  Roumanian  was  already  there, 
under  accusation  of  having  stolen  a  pig.     He  was  de- 
fending himself,  as  best  he  might,  explaining  that  he  had 
not   stolen  the  pig,  but  reared  it  since  it  was  only  one 
foot  high.     The  gipsy  overheard  him,  and  when  his  own 
turn  came  to  defend  his  case  :  *'  I  have  not  stolen  the 
gun,  but  reared  it  with  broth  of  maize  since  it  was  one 
foot  long,"  said  he. 
The  Roumanian  peasant  has  put  down  his  troubles 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       321 

with  justice  and  administration,  in  a  gipsy  anecdote  too. 
A  gipsy  had  committed  some  theft,  and  was  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  poHce ;  what  is  he  to  do  ?  No  friends,  no 
powerful  relatives  to  mediate  for  him,  what  can  he  do  ? 
At  last  he  decided  to  sell  all  he  possessed  and  with  the 
product  to  bribe  the  magistrate  (the  sous-prifet).  In 
effect,  he  is  set  at  liberty  and  comes  to  his  home  full  of 
joy  and  all  ablaze  about  what  a  good  thing  money  is,  and 
how  it  can  bring  you  out  of  any  trouble ;  "in  fact,"  he 
went  on  to  say,  "it  is  a  great  pity  things  could  not  be 
managed  thus  in  Adam's  time  ;  I  am  sure  he  would  have 
had  his  sin  remitted  !  " 

"  But  have  you  got  a  receipt  for  the  money  ?  "  asked 
his  old  more  experienced  mother. 

"  No,  I  have  not !  " 

"  How  could  you  neglect  that,  wretched  boy ;  did  you 
ever  hear  of  any  one  giving  money  without  a  receipt  ?  " 

The  gipsy  went  to  the  official  and  asked  for  a  receipt. 

"  What,  you  scoundrel !  does  the  like  of  you  ask  a 
receipt  when  he  has  stolen  ?  "  was  that  official's  answer. 

Poor,  foolish,  silly  gipsy,  always  taken  in,  always 
cheated,  as  the  Roumanian  peasant  only  too  often  feels 
himself  to  be.  A  gipsy  one  winter  had  got  a  sheepskin  ; 
he  felt  nice  and  warm  in  it,  and  went  out  for  a  walk 
to  take  the  air,  thinking  all  the  time  what  a  good  thing 
it  was  to  be  warm  in  the  winter.  But  now  he  catches 
sight  of  a  man  in  an  old  military  coat.  Old  and  worn 
out  it  was,  but  then  it  was  blue,  and  with  plenty  of  red 
on  it — and  the  gipsy  is  so  very  fond  of  red  !  and  it  had, 
moreover,  several  glittering  brass  buttons  !  And  now, 
that  he  comes  to  think  of  it,  the  gipsy  found  his  sheep- 
skin rather  heavy,  and  the  smell  of  it  not  very  nice 
either  !  The  coat  was  thinner,  to  be  sure,  but  fitting  so 
beautifully  tight  on  the  body  it  could  not  but  keep  it 
warm  too !  He  proposed  the  exchange  to  the  man,  who 
accepted,  of  course,  off-hand.  As  the  gipsy  was  going 
along  now  in  his  tight  coat,  on  the  ridge  of  the  hill, 
where  he  reckoned  the  wind  would  be  less  keen,  being 
much  more  scattered  than  in  the  valley,  where  it  blew  all 
in  a  mass ;  his  teeth  were  chattering  with  cold  when  he 

22 


322         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

came  upon  a  man  wrapped  in  a  fishing  net,  and  who 
seemed  cheerful  enough. 

"What  garment  is  that?"  asked  the  gipsy;  "and 
don't  you  feel  cold  in  it ;  " 

"No,"  said  the  other,  "the  wind  couldn't  hold  in  my 
garment ;  it  is  all  holes,  you  see ;  where  could  the  cold 
keep  in  ?  It  comes  in  at  one  side,  goes  out  at  the  other, 
where  could  it  stop  ?  " 

"  Would  you  not  exchange  it  for  my  coat  ?  '* 

"  Well,  I  don't  mind,  but  let  me  tell  you  that  one  more 
advantage  for  you  is  this,  that  with  this  net  you  can 
catch  fish  also,  and  besides,  at  night  you  may  make  a 
tent  of  it,  and  need  no  house  to  sleep  in." 

The  bargain  was  made.  The  gipsy  went  away  in  his 
net,  and  as  night  was  just  upon  him,  he  decided  that  he 
would  at  once  settle  down  for  the  night  and  spread  out 
his  tent.  Once  in  the  tent,  thought  he,  he  would  not  mind 
so  much  about  the  cold ;  true,  to  set  up  his  tent,  he  had 
to  take  it  off  his  shoulders,  but  then  one  does  not  care 
much  for  dress  indoors  !  And  so  he  laid  himself  down  to 
sleep,  and  putting  out  a  finger  through  the  net :  "  Good 
gracious,  how  cold  it  must  be  out  of  doors,  when  I  who 
am  indoors  am  nearly  frozen  to  death  !  " 


II 

The  Roumanian  peasant  is  strongly  attached  to  his 
birthplace;  if  he  has  to  live  in  another  place  he  calls 
and  feels  himself  strain  (foreign,  or  stranger,  both  words 
being  rendered  by  one  and  the  same  word  in  Roumanian) . 
He  is  shy  among  strangers  and  extremely  reserved.  To 
a  young  man  who  is  going  to  take  a  wife  from  another 
region,  his  mother  gives  this  cautious  warning  : — 

"  Georgey,  my  dear  treasure, 
Mind  well  what  I  tell  you :  * 

*  "  Ghiorghi|ia,  binele  meu 

Baga  'n  sama  ce-^i  spun  eu  : 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       323 

Go  not  into  the  house  unbidden, 
Drink  not  the  glass  uninvited."* 


He  feels  very  lonely  and  wretched  in  a  strange  or  foreign 
place  : — 

"Whom  you  will  be  angry  with 
Curse  him  to  be  a  foreigner. 
Lonely  I  am,  like  the  leaf  on  the  walnut ; 
Finding  no  kindness  where'er  I  go  ?  '  f 

And— 

"  So  it  is.  Lord,  among  strangers 
Like  a  young  shoot  among  thorns; 
The  wind  blows  and  ever  shakes  it, 
Against  all  the  thorns  it  beats  it."  | 

Contact  with  the  foreigner  has  ever  been  irritating; 
foreign  occupations  have  left  this  experience,  this 
feeling : — 

"There  is  no  bitterer  fruit 
Than  foreigners  in  the  land  I  "  § 

A  Roumanian  girl  will  never  marry  a  foreigner  and 
leave  her  country ;  nor  will  she  be  willing  to  marry  a 
Roumanian  if  estranged  from  his  folk  and  land.  The 
young  man  from  Bassarabia  complains: — 


*  Nu  'ntra  'n  casa  nechemat 
Nu  bea  pahar  ne'  nchinat." 

f  "  Pe  cine-i  avea  manie 
Blastama-1  strain  sa  fie. 
Si  's  strain  ca  frunza  'n  nuc 
N'am  mila  unde  ma  due." 

I  "D'a^a-i  Doamne  'ntre  straini 
Ca  mladi^ia  intre  spini ; 
Sufla  vantul  s'  o  clateste 
De  to^i  spinii  mi-o  love^te." 

§  "Nici  o  poama  nu-i  amara 
Ca  strainatatea  'n  ^ara  I " 


324         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"Well  did  I  like  the  way  down  here, 
But  now  have  none  to  tread  it  fori 
The  little  dearie  I  have  loved 
Says  that  I  am  Eussified 
And  speaks  like  a  foe  to  me. 
From  the  bank  when  she  sees  me, 
She  says  ever :  '  Away  with  thee. 
For  thou  shalt  never  have  me! 
When  thou  wert  a  Eoumanian  pure 
I  had  given  thee  my  soul, 
But  since  thou  hast  turned  Cossack 
Thou  art  hateful  like  the  devil  I ' 
The  Prut  is  wide  and  I  cannot 
Swim  across,  over  to  her; 
The  Prut  is  like  a  dragon 
When  I  get  upon  its  bank  1 "  * 

The  Roumanian  peasant,  severed  from  his  old  country, 
will  never  have  anything  to  do  with  the  foreign  ruler; 
neither  is  he  willing  to  learn  his  language ;  it  is  a 
Roumanian  from  Bassarabia  who  sings  again: — 

"Bussian  will  I  ever  learn 
When  I  shall  forget  my  tongue ; 
When  corn  will  grow  in  the  hallf 


"Drag  mi-a  fost  drumu'  ntra  coace 
^i  n'  am  pentru  cine-1  face  I 
Puiculi^ia  ce-am  iubit 
Zice  ca  m'  am  muscalit 
^i-mi  vorbe^te  dusmane^te, 
De  pe  mal  cand  ma  prive^te, 
^i-mi  tot  zice :   '  Fugi  departe 
Ca  de  mine  tu  n'  ai  parte  1 
Cand  erai  Eoman  curat 
Sufletul  meu  ^i  I'am  dat, 
Dar  de  cand  te-ai  cazacit 
E^ti  ca  dracul  de  urat  I ' 
Prutu-i  mare  ^i  nu  pot 
Pan  'la  ea  ca  sa  inot ; 
Prutul  vine  ca  un  zmeu 
Cdnd  sosesc  pe  malul  seul" 

"  Muscale^te — oiii  invata 
Cand  eu  limba  mi-oiii  uita. 
C4nd  a  create  grau'n  tinda 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       325 

And  its  ear  will  reach  the  ceiling; 
When  corn  will  grow  in  the  room 
And  the  ear  reach  to  the  table  I  "  * 


The  Roumanian  peasant  is  a  bad  emigrant ;  he  does 
not  like  moving  away  and  being  separated  from  his 
friends.  It  is  again  from  Bassarabia  that  the  strain  of 
a  distressed  mother  resounds: — 


*' Green  leaf  of  feather-grass 
Black  clouds  are  seen  from  the  dawn, 
The  lightning  cuts  through  the  sky, 
Rain  comes  down,  pouring  rain; 
Down  below  the  forest  groans 
With  thunder,  with  thunder-bolt. 
It  rains  hail,  and  spoils  my  vineyard, 
The  Moscovites  come,  take  off  the  lads. 
And  lead  them  among  strangers. 
Among  strangers,  among  pagans. 
Than  fall  by  the  Moscovites 
Better  had  I  hung  myself. 
For  they  do  beat  and  maim  you 
Speak  you  to  them  Moldavian,  fj 


*  §i-a  ajunge  spicu'n  grinda 
Cand  a  create  gr^u'n  casa 
§i-a  ajunge  pana'n  masa." 

f  "Frunza  verde  de  nagara 
Nori  negri  se  vad  in  zori, 
Fulgerul  cerul  mi-1  taie 
Vine  ploaie,  vine  mare 
Hue^te  padurea  'n  vale 
De  tunet,  de  trasnet  mare. 
Ploua  piatra  viia-mi  strica 
Vin  Moscali,  flacai  ridica 
§i  mi-i  duce  prin  straini 
Prin  straini,  printre  pagani. 
Decat  la  Moscali  picam 
Mai  bine  ma  spanzuram 
Ca  te  bate,  te  stalceste. 
De-i  grae^ti  moldovene^te 


326         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Woe  to  the  foreigner, 

He  is  like  the  tree  by  the  road: 

All  passers-by  throw  at  it 

And  deprive  it  of  its  leaves. 

Two  little  clouds  come  from  the  North, 

This  news  they  have  brought  to  me 

That  Costica  is  in  Tiflis, 

And  is  weeping  all  along 

By  the  foes  badly  ill-used. 

'  Weep  no  more,  Costica,  dear, 

Enough  it  is  that  we  weep : 

Thy  father  weeps,  I  weep,  too, 

The  children  weep  after  us  .  .  . 

May  good  God  allow  us 

To  see  thy  dear  face  again. 

For  we  die  with  longing  for  thee  1 '  "  * 

It  is  from  Bassarabia,  too,  that  one  of  the  finest  popular 
melodies  has  sprung,  produced  by  the  conflict  between 
longing  for  the  birthplace  and  love  for  the  fair  one.  The 
words  are  few  and  simple : — 

"Green  leaf  of  lemon 
Yearning  draws  me  to  Congaz. 
'  Yearning  do  not  press  me  on  f 


Vai  de  neamul  eel  strain 
E  ca  pomul  langa  drum. 
Cine  trece-1  sburatue^te 
^i  de  crengi  il  sarace^te. 
Vin  doi  noura^i  din  sus 
Asta  veste  mi-au  adus, 
Ca  Costica-i  in  Tiflis 
§i  o  duce  intr'  un  plans 
De  du^mani  tare  ucis. 
'  Nu  mai  plangi  Costica  hai 
Ca  destul  cat  plangem  noi 
Plange  tat -to,  plang  ^i  eu 
Plang  copiii  dupa  noi   .   .   . 
De-ar  da  bunul  Dumnezeu 
Sa-^i  mai  vedem  chipul-tau 
Ca  perim  de  dorul  tau  1 '  " 

'*Foaie  verde  d'  alamaie 
Doru  la  Congaz  ma'  nghie. 
'  Dorule  nu  ma'  nghie 


THE  PEASANT  AND  FOREIGNERS       327 

For  Congaz  is  not  close  by ; 

Congaz  is  a  far-off  place 

From  the  fair  one  it  divides  me"'=f' 


-sung  on  the  following  tune:- 

Adagio.  M.M.  J  =  68. 


3||z|£ 


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Foa  -  ie      ver  -  de       d'a  -  la  -  ma 


m 


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Do  -  ru     la 
P 


Con 


« — _ 1 — -^ 


gaz    ma'n    ghi 


^J^^^i: 


Sit 


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a^=it 


Do  -  ru  -  le 


M- 


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nu    ma    'n      ghie 


m 


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ntzzjdt 


Ca    .    .        Con    -    ga  -  zu 


nu  -   1    cole. 


'^'  Ca  Congazu  nu-i  cole 
Ci  Congazu-i  loc  departe 
De  puicu^a  ma  desparte.' 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  PEASANT  IN  HIS  AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


"Dear  is  to  me  the  Koumanian  dance 
But  I  know  not  how  to  start  it ; 
If  I  do  not  start  it  fitly 
Shame  shall  I  bring  upon  me  I "  * 

Theee  is  hardly  a  Roumanian  village  of  any  size  where  a 
dance  will  not  be  held  on  a  Sunday  or  holiday.  Dancing 
is  the  chief  amusement  .of  the  Roumanian  peasant,  from 
early  spring  far  into  the  late  autumn,  and  often  also  in 
winter.  In  this  respect,  however,  as  in  every  other  with 
peasant  usages,  local  colour  is  very  much  to  be  taken  into 
account,  considering  as  local,  though,  not  the  village  type 
but  the  provincial  type  generally.  What  the  cause  of 
differences  between  one  region  and  another  may  be,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  say,  but  it  varies  with  local  taste  and 
local  originality ;  certainly  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
administrative  divisions.  In  the  mountain  regions  the 
lines  of  division  appear  rather  more  clearly,  the  dividing 
line  the  river  valley;  habits  as  well  as  costumes  vary  from 
valley  to  valley,  and  so  do  the  local  details  of  amusements. 
Still  keeping  to  the  national  ground-work  in  general,  each 
valley  has  a  variety  of  usages  of  its  own,  which,  on  the 

*  "Drag  mi-i  jocul  rom&nesc 

Dar  nu  stiu  cum  sa-1  pomesc; 
^i  de  nu  1'  oiii  porni  bine 
Lesne  voiii  pa^  ru^ine !  " 


A  "  ScrAnciob." 
(On  the  Outskirts  of  a  Town.) 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


AMUSEMENTS   AND  PASTIMES  329 

whole,  define  the  small  fatherland  the  peasant  feels  so 
much  bound  to,  in  the  bosom  of  the  larger  fatherland. 
Besides,  the  plain  presents  differences  from  the  mountain, 
without  being  itself  uniform  in  all  its  area;  it  may 
fairly  be  assumed  that  usages  and  customs  in  the  plain 
vary  pretty  much  with  the  basin  of  the  rivers  running 
through  it. 

Generally  speaking,  dancing  is  the  favourite  Sunday 
pastime  all  over  the  Eoumanian  ground.  In  some  places 
they  start  the  dance  earlier,  in  others  later ;  in  some 
places  there  may  be  a  dance  regularly  every  Sunday,  in 
other  places — smaller  ones — only  occasionally,  the  people 
then  walking  to  the  neighbouring  village  to  take  part 
in  its  dance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  by  noon  on  a  Sunday, 
a  traveller  is  sure  to  come  across  a  peasant  dance  in  every 
village  of  any  size.  At  Easter  the  dance  is  accompanied 
by  the  swing  (the  scrdnciob),  built  on  purpose  for  these 
occasions,  which  swing  is  also  subject  to  local  rules :  in 
some  places  it  is  used  only  up  to  Ascension  Day,  in  others 
all  the  year  round,  or,  more  accurately  speaking,  as  long 
as  it  will  last,  which  is  never  a  whole  year. 

The  dance  takes  place  in  front  of  the  public-house, 
where  there  is  a  large,  more  or  less  even,  well-beaten, 
if  not  always  well-swept,  ground,  the  bdtdtura  ("  beaten 
ground  ") .  Occasionally,  the  public-house  may  be  provided 
with  a  large  room  with  timber  floor,  where  the  peasants 
will  crowd  together,  the  young  to  dance,  the  old  to  look  at 
the  dancers,  but  the  atmosphere  becomes  so  stuffy  in  time 
that  the  open  air  seems  far  preferable.  Neither  is  the 
dancing-room  other  than  a  rarity  in  villages,  and  where 
there  is  one,  the  lads  have  a  liking  for  it  on  no  other 
account  but  the  timbered  floor,  the  stamping  of  their 
heels  resounding  ever  so  much  better  on  the  boards ! 
The  open  ground  is  not  without  drawbacks  either:  the 
heat  of  the  sun — ^but  in  all  the  dances  I  had  occasion 
to  watch,  never  an  idea  of  minding  the  sun  arose;  the 
men  with  their  hats  or  fur  bonnets  on,  the  girls  with  only 
their  flowers  and  ribbons  on  their  heads,  they  wipe  the 
streaming  perspiration  from  their  brows,  and  go  merrily 
on,    dancing    and    enjoying    themselves    tremendously. 


330        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

Another  drawback  is  the  dust  that  rises  after  a  while 
under  the  feet  of  the  energetic  dancers ;  but  this  they 
seem  to  mind  just  as  Httle.  In  some  places,  some  one 
will  from  time  to  time  sprinkle  the  ground  with  water, 
but  in  other  places  nobody  wastes  a  thought  on  dust ! 

One  wonders  that  just  at  that  time  of  the  year  when 
work  is  hardest  during  the  week,  dancing  should  fill  up 
the  Sunday,  when  people  would  rather  be  expected  to 
rest  from  their  hard  toil  of  the  week.  But  this  is  what 
they  explained  to  me  as  being  a  very  wrong  expectation, 
"because,"  said  they,  "if  we  stood  still  the  whole 
Sunday,  our  limbs  would  get  quite  stiff,  and  we  could 
hardly  work  on  Monday,  whilst  with  the  Sunday  dance 
the  muscles  are  kept  at  work  continuously,  and  on 
Monday  morning  we  are  just  as  nimble  with  them  as 
ever." 

The  young  men  take  their  first  stand  in  the  dance 
according  to  local  rules  of  their  own.  In  most  places 
the  lads  of  the  village  form  among  themselves  a  kind 
of  brotherhood,  the  ablest  dancer  at  the  head  of  it ;  if  the 
brotherhood  accepts  him,  the  lad  takes  his  place  among 
the  others.  The  village  dance  is  entirely  at  the  will  and 
command  of  the  young  men  of  the  place  (the  fldcdi)  ;  they 
organise  the  dance,  they  appoint  the  musicians,  they 
overrule  the  dances  and  often  the  dancers  too ;  the  flacai 
are  the  undisputed  masters  of  the  dancing  ground  on 
a  Sunday  or  holiday. 

The  girl  begins  to  take  part  in  the  dance  when  her 
father  and  mother  permit  it;  when  the  girl  is  on  the 
threshold  of  the  marriageable  age;  when  the  zestrea  is 
nearly  finished,  when  she  is  fairly  acquainted  with  her 
several  housewifely  duties.  Then  she  is  allowed  to  take 
part  in  the  dance,  and  she  goes  there,  shy  and  fearful, 
and  looks  archly  for  the  lads  to  come  and  ask  her  to 
dance. 

It  is  always  the  flacai  that  open  the  dance,  the  leader 
of  the  dance  and  some  of  the  boldest  joining  him.  In 
places,  there  are  regulations  as  to  the  stepping  into  the 
dance ;  in  other  places  again,  freedom  rules  :  every  one 
begins  when  he  or  she  chooses,  the  girls  never  waiting 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  331 

to  be  asked,  but  just  taking  for  partner  another  girl, 
while  a  lad  will  dance  just  as  simply  with  another  lad. 
The  dance  is  for  the  young  folk;  married  people  dance 
also  in  many  places,  and  even  older  ones,  but  this  rather 
happens  in  cases  when  some  jolly  old  fellow  has  had  a 
glass  too  much,  and  wants  to  make  a  fool  of  himself,  then 
the  young  will  use  him  as  their  butt.  In  other  places, 
however,  the  married  men  and  women  take  part  in  the 
dance  only  towards  the  end  of  the  day,  when  the  young 
have  begun  to  disperse ;  in  other  places,  again,  they  only 
dance  after  dark  in  the  public-house.  In  some  places 
I  have  come  across  local  regulations  that  young  men 
were  not  to  dance  with  married  women,  because  blood 
had  been  shed  on  that  score. 

As  may  be  expected,  a  good  deal  of  flirtation  goes  on 
through,  and  between,  the  dances,  and  in  this  respect  also 
local  character  is  very  varied.  Most  respectable  and 
reserved  in  some  places,  manners  become  much  freer  in 
others.  Courtship  begins  from  the  handkerchief :  the  lad 
will  try  his  best  to  take  off  this  Sunday  adornment  from 
the  girl  he  cares  for,  and  for  that  purpose  will  push  her, 
and  pull  her,  and  struggle  with  her  a  good  deal.  With 
great  pride  will  he  then  wipe  his  brow  with  the  stolen 
handkerchief!  Next  comes  the  girdle  (the  bete),  also  to 
be  taken  away  from  the  girls,  and  worn  during  the  week 
by  the  victorious  lads.  And  girls  act  as  if  they  minded, 
and  sometimes  they  do  mind  in  earnest ;  often  also 
strifes  and  fights  among  lads  will  be  brought  about  by 
those  bete.  In  places,  manners  are  free  at  the  dance  : 
kissing,  and  pinching,  and  bustling ;  and,  if  you  ask  the 
girls  about  it,  they  do  not  seem  to  think  it  very  proper 
either,  but  they  give  this  explanation  :  "The  lads  are  the 
masters  of  the  dance,  they  pay  the  musical  band,  they 
give  the  invitations,  and  if  you  would  not  *  joke '  (a 
§tcgui),  that  is  to  say,  flirt  with  them,  they  would  not  ask 
you  to  dance  any  more  !  Or,  if  you  do  not  *  joke '  with  all 
those  who  want  to,  you  may  never  get  the  chance  of  a 
dance,  and  they  will  play  you  all  sorts  of  bad  turns,  so 
that,  whether  you  like  it  or  not,  you  must  submit  and 
*  joke '   with  the  lads   at  their  wish  and  will."      This 


332 


FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


seems  to  be  one  of  the  draconic  laws  of  the  dance  in 
general. 

The  popular  dances  are  many  and  very  varied,  but  few 
of  them  are  genuinely  national.  Among  these,  the  more 
universal  dance  among  Roumanians,  the  national  dance 
'par  excellence  is  the  Hora  from  Chorus ^  thing  and 
name  coming  down  from  the  Romans — for  a  long 
time  the  chief  dance  of  all  classes  ;  turned  out  now  from 
drawing-rooms,  it  still  prevails  at  the  village  dances. 
The  hora  is  danced  in  a  circle,  the  dancers  holding  each 
other  by  the  hsmd,  and  moving  with  rhythmical  steps, 
now  to  the  right,  now  to  the  left,  the  arms  swinging  in 
cadence.  It  is  again  the  lads  that  start  it ;  then  the 
bystanders  will  gradually  join,  each  when  he  chooses  and 
where  he  chooses,  until  the  circle  grows  so  large  that 
sometimes  it  has  to  be  broken  into  two  concentric  circles, 
the  band  taken  to  stand  in  the  middle  and  play  the 
tune  of  which  the  rhythm  is  uniform,  the  melodies, 
however,  being  very  varied.  One  of  the  finest  printed 
boras  is  the  so-called  JJora  Sinazaj  composed  on  popular 
melodies : — 


.    s 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


333 


:!=:: 


acfzt 


r-r-r 


M 


-m-^^m- 


t=t 


±=i4 


-I M « 7 


i 


^^^ 


-w^. 


i^ 


)i3=J 


tsEt 


^^ 


I—US H- 


i 


fel^ 


-^-a-# 


i 


-•-I- 


i=t: 


«: 


-r^  r 


^t=± 


3f 


^^S^^zz^jft^ 


3t=t*=t=*: 


^-fc 

1- 

^f'f    1 

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=r^ 

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f^l= 

r 

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r 

=F4= 

-1 f— 

Fii  |l      : 

"■jH^    I 

,#■■   1   i^ 

l!=t 

^-f 

■•••-1  •■■■ 

v^^ 

^ 

^.:t 

^r 

I-'  V*. 


Jst  time. 


\T 


iXJZX. 


2nd  time, 

^''   -^-  -•-  -li- 


:t=:|: 


-¥  r  r 


i — r 


« 


-! ■ — I  I       I 


m 


^^^i: 


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r 


334         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


p;^<- 


M^ 


:[:_«. 


J=-^4=- 


-I    I    I 


-I— !■ 


--t-PJt- 


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t=t 


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l=t: 


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J===r 


I 


w 


i^m: 


arztz: 


-|ii — »- 


gjg^ 


4:-#jr ^_^- 


tii-^-t: ti-^-^t— ^ 


^l=p: 


H 1 1- 


-I      I      I 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


335 


-m. 


N-LL'  1  -_r     ^S^g3=pp 


1=* 


y— ^pn — i     #    I  .#    I       gzq~g- 


-^_i_ 


rb^+fr 

1     i     !^^ 

w 

3t_ 

w — 

^5:.- 

[^=^ 
^=1= 

d^ 

— f — 

1    ^ 
1— 

— r- 

__j — 

^r.    __^ 

•— ^ 

p 

^3^^: 

336         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


m 


? 


d 


l=m: 


^ 


^ 


^^^    J  .  V 


4:-#-4=- 


4=t 


f    -1    i 


-tn 


Jt- 


^ 


:t-(iU=- 


;>;) 


^ 


td 


^3 


«*= 


D.  G.  al  FiNB. 


The  hora,  like  other  dances,  also  is  accompanied  by 
spirited  verses,  recited  in  an  energetic  tone  to  the  rhythm 
of  the  dance,  rather  shouted  out,  by  the  leader  of  the 
dance  usually,  the  "  lion  "  of  the  place  ;  these  verses  are 
called  strigdturi  ("  shouts,")  and  have  a  caustic  epigram- 
matic point  in  them,  directed  not  exactly  at  persons  but 
rather  at  faults  of  behaviour,  or  character  in  general ; 
if  any  one  happened  to  be  hurt  at  them,  so  much  the 
worse  for  him.  These  verses  are  improvised  very  often, 
or  at  least  changed  or  added  to,  so  that  one  may  always 
happen  to  hear  new  ones.  The  musicians  contribute 
verses,  too,  of  a  very  coarse  character  sometimes,  they 
being  gipsies  and  not  much  acquainted  with  modesty  or 
shame.  Sometimes,  too,  they  may  become  a  subject  of 
strife,  if  there  happen  to  be  two  or  more  lads  clever  at 
them  in  the  same  place ;  then  they  will  exert  all  their 
power  to  overcome  each  other  in  the  best  verses — the 
strife  may  sometimes  end  in  blows.  These  strigdturi 
are  sometimes  mere  jokes,  with  some  rather  innocent 
allusions,  like : — 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 

"Mother  has  sent  me  from  home 
To  dance  with  the  fairest  girl ; 
I  danced  with  the  ugliest 
For  she  had  the  finest  shift ; "  * 

or  a  chivalrous  compliment  to  some  fair  girls  : — 

"Mother  sent  me  to  the  dance 

Flint  and  fire  I 
To  dance  with  the  fairest  maid 

Flint  and  tinder  1 
But  out  of  the  three  who  is  to  see 
Whichever  the  handsome  be 

Ever  so,  lads ! "  f 

On  the  other  hand,  they  may  have  a  much  weightier 
import,  as  to  misconduct,  like  this : — 

"  Green  leaf  of  a  peony, 
Neither  this  autumn  will  I  wed 
But  will  remain  a  grown  calf 
Beside  those  who  have  married, 
For  the  married  ones  have  wives, 
And  they  will  not  let  me  die."  J 

Or  a  wondering  hint  about  some  girl  who  has  entered 
the  dance  before  knowing  housework  : — 

-!«  "  M'a  trimes  mama  de-acasa 
Sa  joe  fata  cea  frumoasa; 
Eu  am  jucat  cea  mai  h^da 
C'avea  cama^a  mai  mandra." 

f  "M'a  trimes  mama  la  joe 

Cremene  §i  foe ! 
Sa  joe  fata  cea  frumoasa 

Cremene  §i  iasca ! 
Dar  din  trei  cine  le-a  §ti 
Cea  frumoasa  care-a  fi 

Tot  a^a,  copii  I  " 

I  "Frunza  verde  de  bujor, 
Nici  la  toamna  nu  ma'nsor 
Ci  ramaiii  vitel  manzat 
P'anga  cei  ce  s'o'  nsurat, 
Ca  'nsura^ii  au  femei, 
Nu  m'  or  lasa  ei  sa  pieiu." 

23 


338        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

"Ehe,  the  poor  tidy  one 
With  a  shuttle  she  can't  thrust 
With  the  wood-frame  also  not 
But  to  the  dance,  go  on,  go  on !  "  * 

But  if  the  rhythm  of  the  hora  is  the  same,  the  tempo  is 
very  much  varied ;  there  are  slow  ones,  and  quicker  ones, 
and  very  quick  ones  like  the  following,  a  very  widespread 
melody  of  hora. 


P-^i-m 


v-,.i      ^n F — ^- 


*  "  Hei  saraca  neteda 
Cu  suveica  nu  §ti'  da 
Cu  vatala  tot  a^a 
Dar  la  joe  haida,  haida  1 " 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  339 

To  which  the  following  text  is  sung : — 

" '  Said  my  love  that  he  would  come 
As  soon  as  the  moon  will  rise  : 
I  go  out,  the  moon  is  high, 
My  love  came,  and  is  gone  back. 

*I  go  out,  the  moon  is  low, 
My  love  has  come  back  no  more. 
Where  are  you,  0  my  dear  love, 
That  you  keep  me  waiting  thus  ?  ' 

'  Be  quiet,  maiden,  I  have  come 
Ever  since  the  moon  arose. 
And  await  thee  behind  the  house 
Under  the  weeping-willow.' 

'  If  you  have  come  you  are  welcome 
0  my  rose,  dearly  beloved. 
With  thee  I  solace  myself, 
And  forget  my  heavy  grief.'"  * 

*  "'Zis-a  badea^  c'a  veni 
Luna  cand  a  rasari: 
les  afara,  luna-i  sus 
Badea  a  venit  §i  s'a  dus. 

'les  afara,  luna-i  jos 
Badea  nici  ca  s'a  Intors. 
Unde  e^ti,  badi^a  frate 
De  ma  la^i  pe  a^teptate  ? 

'  Taci  lelito,"*  c'am  venit 
De  cand  luna  s'a  ivit 
^i  te-astept  pe  dupa  casa 
Sub  rachita  cea  pletoasa.' 

'  De-ai  venit,  bine-ai  venit 
Trandafirul  meu  iubitl 
Ca  cu  tine  ma  mai  ieu 
De-mi  aUn  nacazul  meu  1 '  " 

*  Badea  is  the  polite  appellation  for  a  peasant,  as  Domnul,  mister, 
or  sir,  is  for  the  gentle  folk ;  I  translated  it  by  "  my  love,"  as  giving 
the  exact  meaning  here. 

=  Lelito,  imperative  dim.  of  leleut  polite  appellation  addressed  to 
a  woman  of  the  people. 


340 


FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


The  hora  can  be  very  quick  and  spirited,  and  then 
it  can  turn  without  transition  into  a  second  national 
dance,  also  very  widespread  among  Koumanian  peasants, 
the  so-called  De  hrdu,  in  which  the  dancers  hold  tight  to 
each  other,  every  one  having  his  left  hand  in  the  girdle 
of  his  neighbour  (hence  the  name  "  by  the  girdle ") 
and  his  right  one  on  the  other's  shoulder.  Sometimes 
they  hold  each  other  only  by  the  shoulders.  The  dance 
is  very  animated,  and  the  heels  are  much  at  work.  It  is 
especially  a  dance  for  men,  but  women  will  join  often 
enough.  The  tunes  of  the  De  hrdu  are  very  varied  ;  the 
one  just  described  will  do  for  a  De  hrdu  as  well  as  for 
a  hora,  or  this  one,  among  many: — 


Presto  J  =  136. 


2nd  time. 


^^ 


1^ 


FZNB. 


P^ 


|dfe-f-tt>-F 


r  "!  !  r 


I       I       I 


P==n^ 


s 


^^^^'^Jv^  w<"i:'M^^j^ 


— *^     I     I     t     I     I  I    I    i  .  f.,  I  i     I     j     I ,    I,  I    I   ,  I 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  341 


3      I  1st  time.        II  8nd  time. 


ii^pPP^^^ 


D.C7.  al  Fine. 


^g^Xll^-Ulr'  !  'I!  :    fr  fn;  '  ;i[l 


i— I 


The  De  brdu  is  danced  in  a  bow  shape,  sometimes  also 
in  a  closed  circle.  There  are  several  varieties  of  the 
De  brdu;  a  rather  elaborate  form  of  it,  with  various 
figures,  is  the  so-called  Bdtuta  ("the  beaten  one"),  also 
a  national  dance,  the  music  of  which  is  like  this — 


>>'T  p- 


#•# 


53 


;=t 


I    r  I    I 


^J=H^ 


-n—'— rt 


^i^l^l-^i-^i^Tg  -^  rnrr^ 


y        '• 


* 


.^^O-^^-^^ 


:«=!: 


W=t 


jr-^.  y 


^  *rr^^ 


a: 


i^a-i^-Ljd 


jITl^rC^irnFj^ 


^ 


K=P= 


« B • 1 VII.    ■# •■ 

5>i:>i5i  J   :  :  [if 


^IL^^^lLULi^ 


f 


!/      !/ 


#.^»-^ 


^    ^rr^ir.^fi>   ^ 


1 


'^  li-j  1^1 


S 


P-r-M4 


«/ 


^^S 


"1  /"I       "1  •!— ? 


i 


I    I    I    I    I    i   Jng^: 


^ 


•  S,P»'m  »- 


m 


»  r  r» 


L  run  !  rt^ 


aLJ-J— L 


^ 


5  ^*=  t  ^p 


^ 


342        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


.^_ii.  •  .«_#. 


^^^e^^^^^S 


=^=F 


SS^ 


p^^^^ 


I  r  u 


3Ci: 


1    I        [1 


^fzsr-^k-^^=^--i-k-^ 


ts===ff 


3^=3: 


^ 


-^-  _  -^ 


I       1^1 


^   ^_^. 


:ti«: 


I  I 


«=t 


I      I      i      I     -i      I    i    I     I     !     I     I     I    i  =1 


B£r. 


m 


,^..ft.  ^.^m- 


-I  r\    It 


I  ;    i  i — iif—m- 


.^  ^  ^  .ft. 


I  r  I    I 


:t=ri 


I  ri  !  I 


'  ri    1 


I 


--*.#  rq,^=pg 


i 


aEE3d=t=*oid 


-P'  Q 


!     r 


tzqt 


i 


.p.  .^.  .p.  .p.  .fi. 


-^-  -^. 


1=4: 


4-^'  _  I  rr 


1        F-[-^4-^ 


:E^ 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


343 


Beside  these  almost  general  national  dances,  there  are 
an  infinity  of  local  ones,  some  original,  others  borrowed 
from  neighbouring  nations.  The  Ardeleanul,  said  to 
be  very  similar  in  step  and  melody  to  the  Italian 
*'  Tarantella,"  the  Mocdne§te,  are  mostly  Transylvanian 
dances,  together  with  many  others  ;  then  there  are  the 
Busasca,  the  Cdzdceasca,  numerous  Sdrbe,  all  borrowed 
or  imitated  from  beyond  the  frontiers,  and  a  number 
of  local  dances.  In  the  vicinity  of  tovms,  it  is  not 
unusual  to  see  clumsy  imitations  of  the  town  dances. 


Fig.  1. — CoBZA. 


Fig.  2.— Tblinca.        Fig.  3.— Trisca. 


There  is  also  among  the  national  dances  the  dance  of  the 
Calusheriy  but  this  is  more  of  a  theatrical  dance  and  will 
be  spoken  of  by  and  by. 

The  musical  band  is  almost  invariably  composed  of 
gipsies  Idutariy  two  of  them  at  least,  one  playing  the 
fiddle,  the  other  the  cobza  (Fig.  1),  or  lute,  which  gives 
the  accompaniment.  The  cobza  may  be  considered  as 
a  national  instrument,  although  the  name  is  Slav,  the 
thing  itself  being  Arab ;  made  up  of  a  resounding  case 
with  ten  chords  touched  by  a  feather  plectrum.     But  the 


344 


FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


national  instruments  par  excellence,  are  wind  instruments. 
Several  varieties  of  whistle,  like  the  telinca  (from  Latin 
tiliay  lime-tree,  of  which  it  was  originally  made — Fig.  2),  a 
plain  tube  of  elder  or  willow  tree,  fastened  with  two 
bindings  of  string  or  cherry  rind,  of  some  65  cm.  length  ; 
the  tri§ca  (Slav,  trochlea — Fig.  3)  a  reed  whistle,  25  cm. 
in  length,  with  six  lateral  holes,  the  notes  being  produced 


Fig.  6. — Flubr  co  dop. 


Fig.  4.--CAVAL. 


Fig.  6.— Naiu. 


Fig.  7. — Bucium. 


by  stopping  them  with  the  fingers ;  the  caval  (Fig.  4)  or 
shepherd's  whistle,  usually  of  plane-tree  wood,  bound  at 
the  extremities  to  prevent  splitting,  provided  with  six 
lateral  holes :  the  length  of  this  whistle  is  variable,  going 
up  to  85  cm.  and  5  cm.  in  diameter ;  its  tone  is  pleasant 
and  melancholy.  Besides  the  three  plain  whistles,  there 
is  the  fluer   cu  dop  (Fig.  5),  whistle  with  a  stopper, 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


345 


allowing  only  a  thin  passage  for  the  breath.  The  naiic 
(Fig.  6)  or  moscal,  is  a  national  instrument  also,  and  is 
composed  of  a  series  of  tubes  of  varied  lengths,  up  to 
twenty  of  them,  bound  together,  played  upon  with  great 


Fig.  8.— Cimpo!. 


Fig.  9. — Dramba. 


art.  The  bucium,  or  bucin  (Fig.  7,  fromLat.  buccina), 
which  is  nothing  but  the  Alphom,  seems  to  be  falling 
into  disuse,  only  rarely  used  by  shepherds  up  in  the 
mountains.  The  corn  (horn),  made  of  animal  horn,  is 
much  used,  but  only  as  a  calling  instrument  in  woods 


346         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

and  mountains.  The  cimpoi  (Fig.  8),  or  bag-pipe,  is 
common  enough,  but  much  plainer  to  look  at  in  its 
natural  skin  than  the  gorgeous  Scotch  bag-pipe.  But 
the  Roumanian  peasant  is  ready  to  enjoy  himself  with  as 
simple  an  instrument  as  the  drdmha  (Fig.  9),  the  jews- 
harp,  on  which  he  will  "say"  his  tune  by  keeping  it 
between  the  teeth;  he  will  even  play  the  loveliest 
melodies  on  no  more  than  a  green  leaf  pressed  against 
his  lips ;  and  what  lively  dances  will  be  led  to  the  sound 
of  so  plain  an  instrument  by  the  spirited  shepherd  boys 
on  the  heights ! 


i 


AlUgro,    M.M.  ^==152. 


»     m     -M-m     P 


I        I        I 


1.  "At  the  hut  with  the  high  cross,  lad  0  my  lad, 
By  the  eye-browed  Stancutza, 
There  goes  round  the  full  }iora^ 
Bewitched  the  men  rush  in. 

2.  The  wine  is  good,  the  measure  big, 
The  braves  drink  to  dry  the  world,* 


*  1.  "La  bordeiu  cu  crucea  nalta,  bad 
La  Stancu^ia  sprincenata, 
Joaca  hora  Incheiata, 
Curge  lumea  fermecata. 

2.  Vinu-i  bun,  ocaua  mare 
Beau  voinicii  pe  sacare 


ca,  badica 


^  Badica,  dim.  from  hade^  means  "  Uttle  master  '  or  "my  lad" 
refrain  returning  after  each  verse. 


By  the  WiNK-Poi. 


IPlWo,  J.  Cazaban. 


To  THE  Dance  at  the  Inn. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


347 


They  have  no  heart  to  depart,  lad  O  my  lad, 
Night  overtakes  them  by  her.  ,,         ,, 

3.  Who  passes  by  will  stop  short, 
On  seeing  her,  he  gets  mad,  lad 
Drinks  wine,  pours  out  his  purse 
And,  my  troth,  he  wiU  not  mind. 

4.  Whoever  comes  with  four  oxen 
Will  go  home  only  with  two. 
And  whoever  comes  on  horseback 
Goes  with  the  saddle  on  his  back. 

5.  But  whoever  comes  on  foot, 
He  will  drink  all  about  him. 
And  goes  well  pleased,  without  coat. 
And  goes  well  pleased  without  coat."  * 


If  dancing  is  the  chief  Sunday  pleasure  of  the  young, 
drinking  is  the  pleasure  of  the  grown-up  and  the  old. 
No  Sunday  without  wine,  and  wine  is  really  delicious 
only  at  the  public-house ;  a  peasant  will  never  drink  his 
wine  at  home,  except  on  very  special  occasions.  On 
Sunday  the  peasants  meet  at  the  public-house  as  early 
as  possible,  and  will  be  still  there  late  in  the  day.  The 
staple  drink  of  the  Boumanian  people  has  always  been 
wine;  an  alcoholic  beverage,   the  rachiu,  is  very  wide- 

*  Nu  se  'ndura  sa  se  duca,  badica,  badica 
Neaptea  la  dansa  i-apuca.       ,,  „ 

3.  Cine  trece,  se  opreste,  ,,  , 

Cit  o  vede  'nebuneste,  ,,  ,, 

Bea  vin,  punga-si  cheltueste  ,,  ,, 

Si  zau  ca  nu  se  caieste.  ,,  ,, 


4.  Cine  vine  'n  patru  boi 

Se  'ntoarce  numai  cu  doi, 
Cine  vine  de  calare 
Pleaca  cu  saua  'n  spinare. 

5.  lar  pe  jos  ori-cine  vine, 
Isi  bea  tot  de  linga  sine 
Si  se  duce  gol  cu  bine, 
Si  se  duce  gol  cu  bine." 


348         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

spread  now,  and,  although  said  to  be  of  comparatively 
recent  origin,  seems  to  be  fast  taking  the  place  of  wine, 
mifortunately.  A  beginning  is  being  made  for  the 
introduction  of  the  much  less  alcoholic  beer,  but  its 
advance  is  extremely  slow,  being  as  yet  an  expensive 
drink,  on  the  outside  slopes  of  the  Carpathians,  at 
least. 

The  Roumanian  peasant  is  very  sociable  and  fond 
of  company ;  at  the  public-house  he  meets  with  friends, 
and,  if  he  has  a  few  pence  in  his  purse,  he  won't  be 
happy  unless  he  has  treated  cinstit  (**  honoured ")  his 
friends ;  every  one  doing  the  same  in  turn,  it  will  not 
be  long  before  everybody  present  has  his  blood  in  his 
head,  especially  as  the  spirits  sold  in  the  popular  bars 
are  of  very  inferior  quality,  insufficiently  distilled,  and 
very  often  adulterated — when  the  innkeeper  is  a  Jew, 
at  least,  for  the  Roumanian  considers  it  a  sin  to  increase 
his  profits  in  that  way.  Once  heated,  the  man,  even  if 
he  had  some  idea  about  the  evils  of  drink,  will  forget 
all  about  it ;  besides,  the  very  air  is  so  infected  with 
the  scent  of  the  spirits  and  wine  in  the  bar-room,  that  one 
unaccustomed  would  surely  get  drunk  by  merely  sitting 
down  there  for  a  few  hours  together.  They  talk,  they 
tell  stories,  they  laugh,  they  sing,  getting  more  and  more 
excited,  until  they  have  entirely  forgotten  the  wisdom 
of  their  own  saying:— 

"Drink,  but  do  not  drink  thy  sense."  * 

The  sense  is  drunk  down,  it  gets  dimmer  and  dimmer, 
the  physical  need  has  got  the  upper  hand,  as  : — 

"  The  more  you  drink,  the  more  you  want  to."  | 

Moreover,  the  innkeeper  stands  there  with  his  tankard 
always  full,  inviting,  stimulating,  for — 

*  **  Sa  bei,  dar  sa  nu-^i  bei  min^ile." 
f  "De  ce  bei,  de  ce-ai  mai  bea." 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  349 

"The  wealth  of  the  innkeeper 


Is  at  the  bottom  of  the  glass. 


* 


And  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  Sunday  evening  you  will 
hardly  meet  with  a  man  who,  if  not  altogether  drunk,  is 
not  at  least  afumat,  "fumed"  with  drink.  But,  except 
on  Sunday  or  hoHdays,  it  is  extremely  rare  to  meet  a 
tipsy  man,  or  to  see  customers  at  the  village  inn  on  a 
week-day.  The  Koumanian  peasant  drinks  on  Sunday, 
and  that  because  he  does  not  meet  with  any  other  kind 
of  recreation  or  pleasant  refreshment  to  take.  People  who 
work  incomparably  less  than  the  peasant  do,  nevertheless, 
feel  the  need  of  recreation  and  pleasure ;  and  people  who 
have  at  their  disposal  much  more  numerous  ways  of 
enjoying  themselves  choose  the  glass  deliberately — drink 
must  then  have  some  decided  power  of  causing  happiness  1 
And  here  comes  in  the  second  cause  of  the  peasant's 
addiction  to  drink,  namely,  he  wants  to  forget  his 
troubles  and  hardships,  and  nothing  can  help  him  in  that 
way,  it  would  seem,  better  than  drink  : 

"  A  tipsy  man  believes  himself  emperor ;  "  f 

and  no  drink  is  better  for  that  purpose  than  rachiuy  of 
which  two  or  three  glasses  will  be  sufficient  to  work  the 
desired  effect,  whilst  it  would  require  bottles  of  wine  to 
do  the  same.  The  troubles  are  thus  forgotten,  drowned 
in  the  glass,  for  the  day,  at  least.  Of  course  it  may  be 
worse  next  day,  for  the  money  spent  or  the  debt  incurred 
will  make  a  deeper  hole  in  the  already  ragged  budget; 
then  the  wife  will  scold  and  shout,  and  the  peasant  will 
take  advantage  of  that  to  go  and  drink  again  in  spite  of 
the  scolding  wife,  and,  what  is  worse,  the  latter  will 
sometimes  go  and  drink  too,  in  spite  of  her  husband,  and 
it  is  known  that  the  wife's  drunkenness  brings  worse 
misery  on  the  house  and  much  sooner  than  man's.  And, 
surely,  poverty  contributes  a  great    deal    towards   the 

*  "Averea  crstsmanilm 
In  fundul  paharului." 

t  "  Omul  beat  se  crede  m'parat." 


350        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

prevalence  of  drunkenness.  As  a  rule  the  peasant  is 
badly  fed,  though  his  work  is  hard;  he  feels  weak,  a  glass 
of  spirits  is  a  capital  stimulant ;  the  man  begins  to 
believe  in  its  strengthening  powers,  and  little  by  little  he 
forms  the  habit  of  drinking.  In  the  vicinity  of  towns 
temptation  is  always  at  work.  The  peasant  will  go  to 
town  with  a  cart  of  firewood  for  sale,  or  a  little  flock  of 
geese,  or  lambs,  and  so  on.  He  drives  these  about  town 
all  day  long  sometimes,  receiving  all  the  time  mock  offers 
considering  his  expectations,  for  his  ware ;  he  has  no  time 
to  eat ;  but  a  glass  of  whisky  will  sustain  him.  And  not 
seldom,  either,  his  customer  will  be  some  Jew  innkeeper 
who  will  by  and  by  take  back  all  the  money  he  has 
given  for  the  goods ;  and  how  is  the  poor  man  to  return 
home  sober  ? 

Of  course  it  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  real  vice, 
too,  only  this  is  the  exception,  not  the  rule.  This  kind  of 
drunkenness  has  always  been  abhorred  by  the  Roumanian 
peasant;  being  a  recognised  drunkard  is  considered  a 
great  shame,  and  numberless  are  the  taunting  expressions 
to  designate  a  drunkard.  It  is  also  considered  as  a 
misfortune,  as  a  disease,  as  indeed  it  is ;  such  a  drunkard 
is  an  om  pdtima§,  he  is  possessed  by  a  patimd,  a  low 
passion  or  a  disease ;  for  such  a  drunkenness  there  is  no 
cure,  the  popular  proverb  tells  us — 

"Drunkenness  is  cured  by  spade  and  shovel."* 

But  drink  is  not  absolutely  drunkenness,  and  a  man 
who  gets  tipsy  occasionally,  on  a  holiday,  cannot  be  put 
down  as  a  drunkard.  Surely,  if  the  conditions  of  life 
were  improved,  if  better  drink  were  offered,  if  more 
elevating  amusements  were  brought  within  the  peasant's 
reach,  soberness  would  easily  take  root,  but  whilst 
nothing  is  done  in  this  respect,  in  spite  of  all  the 
gentlemen's  societies,  which,  for  these  two  or  three  last 
years  have  been  playing  at  ''temperance  work,"  drink  will 
continue   to   be   the   most    pleasant   change   to   a  poor, 

*  "  Be^ia,  o    ecue^te  sapa  §i  lopata." 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  351 

worried  peasant.  So  much  the  more  hope  there  is  for  the 
future,  that  it  is  not  the  young  men  who  drink  ;  you 
hardly  ever  come  across  a  drinking  young  man — he  would 
never  get  a  wife  if  he  showed  signs  of  vice ;  and  many  a 
young  girl  have  I  heard  regretting  that  he  does  not, 
"because,"  they  said,  "you  marry  him  thinking  you 
have  taken  a  good  man,  and  in  a  few  years  you  discover 
that  he  has  got  the  " naravul  dracului"  ("the  devil's 
bad  habit ") !  Drunkenness  is  much  more  at  home  in 
towns,  no  doubt,  but  town-people  are  altogether  very 
different  from  the  peasant. 

In  dancing  and  drinking  the  Eoumanian  peasant 
spends  his  summer  holidays,  and  his  winter  ones  too. 
Although  enjoyments  of  any  kind  require  money,  these 
amusements  are  not  particularly  affected  by  the  state 
of  crops  and  harvests.  Some  four  years  ago  in  Free 
Eoumania,  and  generally  all  over  the  region  round  the 
Carpathians,  there  were  particularly  bad  harvests.  On 
week-days  you  met  peasants  walking  about  idly,  un- 
occupied, sitting  in  crowds  to  mind  a  few  oxen,  because 
there  was  no  work  for  them ;  there  were  no  crops  to  reap, 
hardly  anything  to  gather  in.  Yet  on  Sundays  the  inns 
were  crow^ded,  inside  and  outside,  and  the  dance  went  on  in 
almost  every  village ;  and  as  I  felt  rather  puzzled  about 
it,  an  old  peasant  told  me  the  following  little  story  by 
way  of  explanation.  In  some  far-away  country,  he  said, 
there  was  once  upon  a  time  an  emperor,  who  levied  hard 
taxes  upon  his  people,  yet  wanting  still  more  money,  he 
called  his  minister  and  ordered  him  to  raise  still  higher 
taxes.  The  minister  obeyed,  but  subsequently  came  to 
tell  the  emperor  that  he  thought  the  new  taxation  was 
too  hard,  as  the  people  looked  so  poor  and  miserable,  and 
went  complaining  all  over  the  place.  "It  does  not  matter," 
said  the  emperor,  "let  them  complain,  you  must  raise  the 
taxes  still  higher."  The  minister  did  so,  but  came  to  tell 
the  emperor  that  he  rather  feared  some  revolution,  as  the 
people  seemed  so  wretched  about  it  and  were  weeping 
and  moaning,  young  and  old.  "  Do  they  indeed  look  as  if 
they  suffered?  "  asked  the  emperor ;  "well,  you  may  once 
more  raise  the  taxes."     The  minister  was  amazed;  how- 


352         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

ever,  he  had  to  follow  orders ;  but  to  his  utmost  astonish- 
ment he  found  that  the  people  instead  of  weeping  and 
complaining  any  longer  had,  on  the  contrary,  now  taken 
to  amusement,  to  drink,  and  rejoicing.  But  when  he 
went  to  report  to  the  emperor  this  new  state  of  things, 
"  Now,"  said  the  latter,  "  you  must  slacken  the  yoke  and 
diminish  the  taxation,  for  this  means  that  people  cannot 
bear  any  more !  "  "  And  so,"  the  peasant  went  on  to  say, 
"if  you  have  anything  worth  saving,  you  will  haply  find 
in  yourself  strength  enough  to  save,  whilst,  if  *  God 
punishes '  us,  and  misery  is  down  upon  us,  what  can  we 
save?  At  least  we  forget  our  sorrows,  and  we  are  the 
better  for  it." 

Misery  may  well  make  one  improvident,  especially 
a  people  who  for  centuries  have  been  through  the 
most  precarious  circumstances,  under  which  they  could 
hardly  succeed  in  keeping  body  and  soul  together ;  in  this 
predicament,  what  could  be  saved  towards  a  most  uncertain 
future?  But  it  may  be  in  the  blood,  too;  and  also  in 
education !  And  if  people  much  better  off,  in  decidedly 
happier  conditions  of  wealth  and  education,  are  not 
provident,  why  should  such  virtue  be  expected  from  the 
peasant  ?  There  are,  no  doubt,  thrifty  peasants ;  but  it 
is  none  the  less  true  that  time  may  inscribe  much 
progress  still  on  his  tablets  :  in  the  meanwhile,  many  a 
peasant,  glass  in  hand,  will  sing  merrily,  though  most 
improvidently : — 


"I  have  a  franc,  I  want  to  drink  it 
Tra  la  la — la  la  la  la, 
And  even  that  one  is  not  mine 
Tra  la  la— la  la  la  la.* 


*  "Am  im  leu  §i  vrau  sa-1  beu 
Tra  la  la — la  la  la  la 
§i  nici  ala  nu-i  al  meu 
Tra  la  la — la  la  la  la. 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES 


353 


But  what  do  I  care  indeed 
If  I  do  with  it  as  I  wish 
Tra  la  la  la  la  la  la.     Ihal   la  la,"  * 


on  the  following  tune 


Allegretto. 


EF 


fc^=!^ 


■^-H^ 


-^— ^ 


^=^ 


^P53 


-t^^^: 


Am  un  leu  ^i  vrausa  -  1   beu    Tra  la  la la  la  la  la, 


^i     ni  -  ci  ala    nu-i  al    meu,      Tra  la    la  la  la  la  la. 


i 


ipzzc 


■ _J ^_ ^-  _ 


V_>r_^: 


>    l^    ]/' 


Dar  ce  ■  mi  pasa  mi  -  e  zau.   Da  -  ca  fac  cu     el  ce    vreu, 


Tra  la  la 


la    la  la  la  la  la.     I  -  ha  I       la  la  la    la. 


Ill 

Among  the  Eoumanian  peasant's  amusements  there  are 
also  theatrical  performances,  most  of  them  displayed  in 
connection  with  special  holidays  or  times  of  the  year, 
some  of  them  universal  with  the  Koumanians.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  theatrical  performances  and  at  the 
same  time  the  most  puzzling  as  to  origin,  is  the  so-called 
dance  of  the  Calusheri.  A  group  of  seven,  nine,  or  eleven 
men,  forming  a  brotherhood  of  its  own  between  them, 
having  gone  through  a  special  training,  and  initiated  in 
a  sort  of  mysteries  of  their  own,  which  they  keep  entirely 
to  themselves,  will  gather  on  Trinity  Day,  or  the  Bussalii, 
and  will  start  dances  which  they  go  about  performing 
from  house  to  house,  from  village  to  village,  from  one 
district  to  another.  The  Calusheri  were  once  universal 
wherever  there  were  Eoumanians ;  now  they  seem  to 
be  relegated  to  the  West  of  Valachia — the  Oltenia — to 

*  Dar  ce-mi  pasa  mie  zau, 
Daca  fac  cu  el  ce  vreu 
Tra  la  la  la  la  la  la.     Ihal   la  la  la." 
24 


354         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 


the  South  of  Transylvania  and  the  Banat,  but  bands 
of  them  will  go  as  far  as  the  North  of  Moldavia.  Their 
dress  is  the  national  costume,  ornamented  with  strings 
of  all  colours,  with  flowers,  and  bells  at  the  knees,  each 
man  being  also  provided  with  a  stick,  which  they  make 
great  use  of  during  the  dances.  The  Calusheri  are  said 
to  be  of  Roman  origin,  their  performance  mimicking  the 
rape  of  the  Sabines  in  early  Rome.  Something  of  that 
there  may  surely  be  in  it,  so  much  the  more  as  one  of 
the  chief  dances  is  called  the  Bomanul,  but  it  appears, 
nevertheless,  that  in  time  the  performance  has  in  great 
measure  altered  its  character,  with  additions  introduced 
Httle  by  little,  especially  in  connection  with  the  superstition 
about  the  Bussalii  as  evil  powers.  The  Calusheri  are 
invested  with  a  kind  of  supernatural  healing  power,  and 
the  contact  with  them  is  supposed  to  be  a  preservation 
against  disease,  especially  at  the  Bussalii's  hand.  Their 
dances,  or  rather  dancing  tours,  do  not  last  more  than 
nine  days.  The  most  widespread  tune  of  their  usual 
dance  is — 


Allegretto. 


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I  ! FH    I  1 h  I 1 1 


i 


m  P  m 


^  P  0 


^w-u. 


^ 


I 


-• — •- 


^ 


£fi 


P-m- 


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I  1/-1 


^     '       I  -^— H'    I      — ^ — r=^-i — ^^— r-- 


AMUSEMENTS  AND   PASTIMES 


355 


Another  amusement  of  still  more  decided  theatrical 
character  is  the  Vicleim  (from  *'  Bethlehem  ")  as  it  is  called 
in  Valachia,  or  the  Irozi  (plur.  from  JrocZ=Herod),  as  it 
is  generally  called  in  Moldavia  and  Transylvania;  it  is 
a  symbolic  representation  of  Christ's  birth,  performed 
during  the  winter  carnival,  especially  during  the 
Christmas  fortnight.  This  play  is  much  simphfied  at 
the  present  day,  and  not  quite  as  much  cared  for  as  it 
used  to  be.  The  troupe  is  composed  of  at  least  ten 
persons  if  not  more:  Herod,  in  imperial  robes,  called 
emperor  Herod  too,  an  old  grumbling  ruler,  speaking  in 
harsh  tones  to  his  followers;  an  officer  in  Roman  dress 
and  two  soldiers  also  in  Roman  attire,  but  called  the 
Heleyii  (the  Helens),  always  behind  Herod,  and  carrying 
his  ample  cloak ;  the  three  Magi,  or  wise  men,  in  oriental 
garb,  and  a  child.  The  gravity  of  the  scene  is  mellowed 
by  two  comical  figures :  the  paiata  (the  clown)  and  the 
mo§ul,  or  old  man,  the  former  in  harlequin  accoutrement, 
the  latter  with  a  mask  on  his  face,  a  long  beard,  a  hunch 
on  his  back,  and  dressed  in  a  sheep-skin  with  the  wool  on 
the  outside.  The  plot  of  the  play  is  quite  simple.  The 
officer  brings  the  news  that  three  strange  men  have  been 
caught,  going  to  Bethlehem  to  adore  the  new-born 
Messiah ;  Herod  orders  them  to  be  shown  in :  they  enter 
singing  in  a  choir.  Long  dialogues  ensue  between  them 
and  Herod,  who  at  last  orders  them  to  be  taken  to  prison. 
But  then  they  address  the  Heavenly  Father,  and  shout 


356         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

imprecations  on  Herod,  invoking  celestial  punishment  on 
him,  at  which  unaccountable  noises  are  heard,  seeming 
to  announce  the  fulfilment  of  the  curse.  Herod  falters, 
begs  the  wise  men's  forgiveness,  putting  off  his  anger  till 
more  opportune  times.  The  wise  men  retire  with  new 
songs,  still  to  be  heard  when  they  are  supposed  to  be  a 
long  way  off.  Then  a  child  is  introduced,  who  goes  on 
his  knees  before  Herod,  with  his  hands  on  his  breast, 
asking  pity.  He  gives  clever  answers  to  various  questions 
and  foretells  the  Christ's  future  career,  at  which  Herod 
stabs  him.  The  whole  troupe  now  strikes  up  a  tune  of 
reproach  to  Herod,  who  falls  on  his  knees  in  deep 
repentance. 

In  connection  with  this  religious  play  there  is  a 
decidedly  worldly  one :  the  "  dolls  "  (Pdpu§ele),  a  theatre 
of  miniature  puppets,  acting  on  a  miniature  stage,  packed 
in  a  box  a  man  can  carry  on  his  shoulders,  something  of 
the  barrel-organ  size  and  shape.  The  acting  is  not  mere 
pantomime;  there  is  talk  as  well,  all  done  by  the  man 
who  pulls  the  strings  and  who  suits  his  voice  to  the 
various  personages  supposed  to  be  talking.  This  box  and 
stage  is  also  called  a  Vicleim,  and  the  stage  represents 
the  gardens  of  Herod's  residence  and  part  of  the  town 
square.  In  the  background  houses  are  seen,  and  Herod 
sitting  on  his  throne,  with  his  two  attendants  right  and 
left.  The  play  of  the  Irozi  is  performed  here  with  the 
dolls.  But  besides  this  performance  the  dolls  have  a 
rich  repertory  of  funny  and  tragi-comical  plays.  The 
chief  personages  are  the  keeper  of  the  place,  Mo§  lonicd 
(Uncle  Johnny),  representative  of  the  popular  wisdom 
and  serious  satire,  and  the  humorous  clown,  the  paiafa. 
The  subjects  of  the  plays  are  varied.  A  parody  of  hunt- 
ing, for  instance,  a  huntsman  appearing  in  company  with 
the  clown,  who  ridicules  his  bad  luck.  A  fight  between 
a  Russian  and  a  German — sad  reminiscences  of  the 
nefarious  occupation  by  Russian  or  Austrian  armies. 
Then,  Turks  and  Russians,  Moscali,  the  Turk,  always 
beaten ;  a  Turkish  burial  by  a  Christian  popa  who 
consents  to  make  a  mock  funeral  service  on  the  corpse 
of  the  deceased  Hassan.    Allusions  to  the  Russian  pro- 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  357 

tectorate,  to  the  balls  given  in  honour  of  the  Kussian 
officers,  ladies  talking  French,  stdlcind  hiata  franfuzascd, 
"  mutilating  the  poor  French !  "  Jews,  gipsies,  beggars, 
everything  that  has  happened  to  fall  under  the  satirising 
eye  of  the  dollman  or  occurs  to  his  fancy.  At  the  end, 
mo§  lonicd  and  his  baba  appear  begging  the  audience's 
generosity  towards  "poor  dollman,"  something  "for 
mouth  and  for  drink"  (pentru  gurd  si  pentru  hduturd). 
The  "dolls"  are  supposed  to  be  of  pagan  origin,  from 
the  old  Koman  satire. 

Another  amusement  of  a  satirical  character,  too,  is  the 
Brezaia,  or  the  Gapra  (the  "she-goat"),  in  which  one 
actor,  in  some  animal's  appearance,  usually  a  goat,  goes 
about  from  house  to  house,  led  by  several  attendants,  and, 
dancing  to  the  sound  of  some  poor  fiddle,  imitates  human 
follies,  often  taking  as  a  butt  persons  of  the  audience, 
if  they  present  any  peculiarity  worth  ridiculing.  In  old 
Eome,  when  the  triumph  of  some  victorious  general 
was  being  celebrated,  it  is  notorious  that  besides  the 
"  admiring "  corUge  and  the  eulogies  addressed  him, 
he  was  also  subject  to  keen  satire  at  the  hands  of  some 
of  his  soldiers,  who  took  upon  themselves  to  advertise 
pubHcly  his  faults  in  satirical  verses,  as  others  had 
praised  his  virtues ;  these  soldiers  are  said  to  have  been 
also  got  up  like  animals. 

An  amusement  of  rather  more  recent  date,  performed 
also  during  the  Christmas  fortnight,  catching  little  by 
little  the  popular  imagination,  is  the  "  Peasant- wedding  " 
(Nunta  ^drdneascd) ,  a  popular  play  also,  with  many 
actors,  the  chief  ones  being  a  bride  and  bridegroom,  a 
clown,  a  priest  and  a  Jew,  also  with  satirical  tendency. 

These  theatrical  performances,  however,  are  more  and 
more  deserting  the  villages  and  receding  into  towns, 
mostly  as  the  gain  is  much  more  considerable  there. 

Another  amusement,  as  much  at  home  in  towns  as 
in  villages,  is  the  traditional  Plugu§orul  ("the  Little- 
plough  ")  going  about  only  on  New  Year's  Eve.  A  party 
of  young  men  go  from  house  to  house,  soon  after  dusk, 
at  the  first  lighting  of  candles,  and  standing  outside  the 
window  or  door,  one  of  them  recites  a  piece  of  poetry, 


358         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

reaching  sometimes  to  as  much  as  five  hundred  verses, 
with  ever-recurring  accompaniment  of  v\^hip-clashing 
and  unintermitting  ringing  of  a  bell  which  he  keeps 
in  his  hand,  as  if  to  beat  time  to  his  oration — urare,  as 
it  is  called.  These  recitals  are  very  varied,  the  ground- 
work on  which  they  are  composed  being  an  apotheosis 
of  the  agricultural  pursuits,  in  which  the  usual  hero  is 
Bddica  Tro'ian  ("Master  Trajan");  the  habitual  intro- 
duction is:  **  Aho,  aho,  plough  with  twelve  oxen!  "  and 
the  recitation  goes  on  with  the  regularly  repeated  refrain 
of  "Now  do  drive  on,  fellows,  Hai!  Hai ! "  in  which 
last  shout  all  present  join,  as  if  they  really  were  driving 
a  plough  on  some  hard  furrow.  Once,  the  custom  was — 
and  in  some  places  it  is  still  so — to  have  a  miniature 
plough    carried   about  by  the  party;    nowadays,    "the 


Fig.  10. — BuHAl  (the  Bull). 

bull"  (Buhaiul)  is  taken  instead.  This  buha^  (Fig.  10)  is 
made  up  of  a  little  wooden  cask,  stopped  at  one  of 
the  ends  with  a  skin  bottom,  instead  of  a  wooden  one, 
through  which  a  cord  of  horsehair  comes  out  from  the 
interior.  One  man  draws  this  cord  between  his  fingers 
all  the  time  the  recitation  lasts,  producing  thus  the  sound 
of  a  bellowing  bull,  an  all  prevailing  and  most  unmusical 
boo  !  The  recitation  is  ended  with  greetings  for  New 
Year  and  for  abundant  harvests  to  the  master  of  the 
house  and  his  family,  and  with  distributions  to  the 
uratori  ("  the  greeters  ")  of  colaci,  dried  fruit,  apples, 
walnuts,  and  possibly  money.  The  Plugushor  is  also 
supposed  to  be  of  pagan  origin,  and  namely  from  the 
Roman  Opalia,  festivals  in  honour  of  Ops,  the  goddess 
of  abundance. 


The  Dancing  Bear. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


To  face  page  359. 


AMUSEMENTS  AND   PASTIMES  359 

The  last  theatrical  amusement  is  that  performed  by 
the  ''bear"  in  person.  The  "dancing  bear"  is  an 
amusement  of  all  times,  mostly,  however,  to  be  met  in 
spring,  when  the  gipsies  are  not  yet  busy  at  field  work. 
The  gipsy  catches,  often  with  great  danger  to  his  life, 
the  bear  cub,  puts  out  its  eyes,  rears  and  tames  it,  but 
never  to  the  extent,  however,  of  being  able  to  lead  him 
without  a  strong  and  safe  chain.  The  dancing  bears  are 
often  to  be  seen  in  companies,  going  from  house  to  house, 
to  dance  their  steps  at  the  sound  of  the  daira  (Fig.  11) 
or  tambourine.  It  is  considered  unlucky  to  turn  out  a 
bear,  so  it  is  received  in  every  courtyard  to  dance,  and 
after  the  performance  is  presented  with  a  plateful  of 
maize  flour  and  some  cheese,  of  which  the  gipsy  gives 
some  to  the  bear  to  eat  in  his  daira,  putting  the  rest 


Fig.  11.— DairA. 

carefully  by  in  a  special  bag.  From  this  willing,  and  yet 
compulsory,  tribute  to  the  bear,  people  have  formed  a 
proverb  to  show  that  an  evil  coming  upon  your  neighbour 
may  befall  you  too : — 

"  The  bear  dances  at  the  neighbours' "  * 
— that  is :  will  probably  come  to  us  too — and  also : 

"When  you  see  the  bear   at  your  neighbour's,  get  your  flour 
ready."  f 

It  is  believed  by  the  people  that  the  entering  of  the 
bear  into  the  house  brings  luck,  so  those  who  wish  and 


*  "Joaca  ursul  la  vecini." 
f  "  C&nd  vezi  ursul  la  vecini,  gate^te  faina." 


360         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

can  afford  to  give  a  richer  tip  to  the  gipsy,  will  ask  the 
bear  in  and  make  it  lie  on  the  beds,  as  this  wonld  keep 
out  illness.  Also  peasants  who  suffer  from  muscular 
pains  or  fever,  think  it  a  cure  to  lie  down  on  one's 
face  and  have  the  bear  recline  on  one's  back,  or  have 
him  tread  on  one's  body  and  limbs.  Besides  the  dancing, 
the  gipsy  will,  if  the  lookers-on  pay  for  it,  fight  his  bear, 
or  if  there  are  two  bears,  make  them  fight  against  each 
other.  Only  this  is  sometimes  dangerous,  as  bears  with 
all  their  chains  are  apt  to  get  vicious,  and  the  gipsies 
will  have  hard  work  with  their  taming  sticks  to  get  them 
down. 

IV 

The  ^dzdtoarea,  (the  "Evening  gathering")  is  the 
great  winter  amusement  of  the  Roumanian  peasants. 
Field  labour  draws  towards  its  end  with  the  appearance 
of  Brumdrel  (October),  *' little-hoar-frost,"  who  comes  in 
with  the  warning : — 

"I  am,  dear,  'little-hoar-frost,' 
I  come  in  the  cool  evening 
To  lie  on  the  flower's  bosom, 
And  when  I  start  with  the  sun 
Behind  me  the  flower  dies."  * 

Brumarel  gives  a  first  hint  at  winter,  by  spreading 
over  nature  its  thin  grey  cloak  on  a  clear,  starry  night. 
Usually,  after  the  first  hoar-frost,  the  weather  settles  for 
a  good  while  as  unchangeably  fair  and  bright.  The 
bringing  in  of  the  maize  is  hurried  on,  together  with 
the  gathering  of  the  grapes  and  the  making  of  the  wine. 
St.  Demeter,  on  the  26th  of  October,  is  the  close  of 
the  agricultural  year.     One  gets  ready  for  the  reception 

*  "Eu  s^nt,  draga,  Brumarel, 
Eu  vin  sara  pe  racoare 
De  ma  culc  pe  sin  de  floare, 
Si  cS-nd  plec  voios  cu  soare 
Dupa  mine  floarea  moare." 


A  Sledge.  iPlwtu,  j .  Cazubcin. 


To  face  page  361. 


On  the  Way. 


[Photo,  J.  Cazaban. 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  361 

of  the  much  severer  Brumar  (November),  that  is  the 
*'Hoar,"  or,  rather,  the  ''White-frost." 

"Who  am  I? — The  great  Brumar; 
I  fall  down  by  full  midday, 
I  take  off  the  flowers'  scent. 
And  when  I  take  off  the  scent 
I  wither  also  the  flowers."* 

Bruynar,  or  Promorar  (horn  promoroacd  =  white  frost), 
coming  on  Hke  "  a  hero  on  his  horse,  as  white  as  a  snow- 
flake,"  covers  all  nature  with  white  down.  But  this 
seems  to  be  rather  out  of  date  now ;  snow  is  hardly  ever 
as  early  now  as  it  used  to  be  when  our  grandfathers 
were  young,  as  they  tell  us.  Now,  November  hardly  ever 
looks  bright  and  clear,  although  there  are  fair  exceptions ; 
as  a  rule  November  is  the  dullest  and  bleakest  month  of 
the  year,  with  a  leaden  sky  above,  hardly  ever  a  stray 
pale  sunbeam,  with  cold  and  dreary  days  and  the  longest 
nights.  But  sometimes  it  happens  still,  that  snow  falls 
in  abundance  in  November,  and  then,  with  all  the  frost 
and  cold,  life  looks  ever  so  much  happier  in  the  short 
days.  But  whatever  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  may 
be,  in  November  the  nights  are  the  longest,  and  the 
Koumanian  peasant  willingly  spends  the  half  of  it  in 
amusement  mixed  with  work.  Now  in  one  homestead, 
now  in  another,  people  will  gather  as  soon  as  candles 
are  lit,  to  the  so-called  sdzatoare,  (from  §Mere-sedere=:i'' io 
sit"),  where  people  are  meant  to  sit  down  and  work  at 
some  quiet  handwork :  combing,  carding,  spinning  of 
wool,  hemp,  or  flax,  or  winding  of  cotton  skeins.  On  the 
hearth  a  gay  fire  is  burning,  above  the  flames  of  which 
a  kettle  with  boiling  maize  or  corn  is  simmering  in- 
vitingly; this  is  the  centre  of  the  gathering.  At  the 
back  of  the  hearth  the  big  oven,  heated  also,  contains 


*  "Cine  sant? — Brumarul  mare 
De  cad  ziua  'n  pr^nzul  mare 
lau  mirosul  de  la  floare 
^i  c^nd  ieau  miroasele 
Ve^tejesc  §i  florile." 


862         FROM   CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

sometimes  some  big  pumpkin  and  potatoes  baking,  to  be, 
together  with  the  maize  and  corn,  the  refreshment  of  the 
assembly,  to  which  are  added  the  sweet-tasting  cuco§ei,  or 
cucurigif  maize  grains  baked  in  a  kettle  with  sand  and 
some  salt,  by  which  process  they  split  and  spring  into 
beautiful  white  flowers.  In  old  times,  beside  the  blazing 
wood-fire,  the  room  was  also  lighted  by  an  opait^  a  wick 
dipped  into  grease  melting  in  some  potsherd  on  the 
mantelpiece,  the  corlata;  nowadays  civilisation  has 
ushered  petroleum  lamps  into  the  poorest  cottage. 

As  a  rule,  all  sorts  of  people  come  together  at  a 
§dzdtoare;  young  girls  to  work,  or  pretend  to;  young 
men  to  help  them  at  entangling  their  skeins,  to  tease 
them,  to  joke  and  flirt  with  them;  people  of  all  ages, 
and,  if  possible,  some  old  man  or  woman,  talkative  and 
clever,  with  wrinkled  face  and  young  heart,  with  no  end 
of  tales  up  their  sleeve.  These  night-gatherings  are 
varied  in  character,  according  to  the  place;  in  some 
places  they  seem  to  go  on  very  simply  and  cordially ;  in 
other  places  the  tone  seems  to  be  of  a  coarser  kind,  and 
to  give  opportunities  for  subsequent  rows  and  fights 
amongst  the  young  men.  So  I  have  come  across  places 
where  men  were  not  allowed  to  go  to  the  §dzdtoare,  the 
women  meeting  by  themselves,  and  probably  doing  more 
work  than  play — if  sleep  could  possibly  be  kept  away ! 
In  other  places,  I  have  been  told,  women  were  not 
received  in  the  sdzdtoare,  at  least  young  married  women, 
as  bloody  rows  had  been  brought  about  between  their 
husbands  and  occasional  love-makers.  In  other  places, 
again,  these  gatherings  were  looked  upon  with  great 
contempt  by  well-to-do  peasants,  who  declared  that  their 
girls  would  never  go  to  the  §dzdtoare.  On  the  whole, 
though,  the  §dzdtoare  still  exists,  and  is  well  attended  by 
numerous  visitors,  with  character  now  strict  now  loose, 
with  manners  now  refined  now  coarse,  according  to  the 
taste  of  the  people  it  brings  together. 

The  amusements  at  the  §dzdtoare  are  made  up  of 
various  games,  in  which  the  persons  present  all  take  an 
active  part,  be  it  together  or  in  turn ;  of  intellectual 
pastimes,   like  tale-telling,   asking  riddles,   and  various 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  363 

questions  put  by  one  of  them  to  which  the  audience 
is  expected  to  give  appropriate  answers;  of  puns  and 
puzzling  sentences  to  be  repeated  by  those  present,  by 
whose  mistakes  no  end  of  laughter  is  provoked. 

The  popular  tales  running  among  the  Roumanian 
peasantry  are  very  numerous ;  a  good  many  of  them  have 
ceased  to  be  oral  only,  and  have  been  written  down  by 
more  or  less  gifted  collectors,  so  that  some  have  still 
preserved,  while  others  have  lost  their  particular  simple 
narrative  character.  Although  on  the  whole  these  tales 
have  a  kinship  with  tales  of  other  peoples  and  countries, 
and  although  the  groundwork  of  these  tales  is  of  limited 
variety,  yet  the  form  under  which  they  are  presented 
is  extremely  varied,  and  appears  as  an  unmistakable 
outcome  of  local  beliefs,  of  personal  characteristics,  and 
of  local  culture.  The  anonymous  tale  composer  (who  is 
everybody  more  or  less)  unconsciously  embodies  in  his 
tale  his  own  moral  or  material  ideals,  the  more  eagerly 
in  that  he  hardly  ever  sees  them  realised  in  actual  life. 
As  he  sits  in  front  of  the  little-by-little  smouldering  fire, 
the  tale  narrator  will  carry  along  vnth  him  the  enraptured 
audience  into  worlds  full  of  sun  and  of  Hght,  the  world  of 
the  Feti-frumo§i  (** handsome  youths")  in  love  with 
some  fair — 

"Ileana  Simziana 

From  her  hair 
The  flower  sings 
Nine  empires 

Listen !  "  * 

meeting  with  all  sorts  of  difficulties  and  struggling  with 
all  sorts  of  monsters,  mounted  on  beautiful  flying  horses, 
which  feed  on  hot  embers  and  are  seers  too,  and  a  great 
help  to  the  beloved  rider  on  their  back.  The  usual  foes 
of  Fdt-frumos  are  the  zmei  dragons,  imaginary  beings, 

^^  "Ileajia  Simziana 

Din  cosi^ 
Floarea-i  canta 
Noua  impara^ii 

Asculta  I  " 


364         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

the  shape  of  which  is  entirely  left  to  the  fancy  of  the 
hearer,  very  brave  and  strong,  too,  but  in  the  end  always 
overcome  by  the  favourite  hero.  Physical  strength  is  given 
due  consideration,  too,  but  cleverness  and  intelligence  have 
always  the  upper  hand  in  the  end.  Or,  if  not  emperors 
and  princesses,  the  subjects  of  tales  will  be  a  baba  and  a 
mo§neag  (an  old  woman  and  an  old  man),  with  a  good 
daughter  and  a  wicked  daughter,  put  both  to  various 
trials  from  which  the  result  will  always  be  the  triumph 
of  the  good,  the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  Superstitions 
and  beliefs  will  find  a  faithful  reflection  in  tales:  men 
changed  into  animals  by  the  power  of  a  curse ;  travelling 
in  "  the  other  world,"  and  so  on,  without  the  slightest 
attention  being  ever  paid  to  time  and  space.  A  very 
important  character  again,  playing  a  part  in  tales,  is  the 
celebrated  Pdcald  and  his  congener — perhaps  only  his 
"  Sosie,"  his  twin  Tdndald.  A  pdcdli,  means  to  take  in, 
but  for  fun  mostly,  not  seriously  :  cheating  is  given  by  a 
in§ela.  From  this  verb  Pdcald  derives  obviously  his 
name,  and  he  will  take  in  everybody,  for  fun  often,  but 
oftener  still  in  earnest.  A  short  humorous  tale  brings 
face  to  face  the  two  personages.  P^cala  and  T^ndala 
happening  to  meet,  both  begin  complaining  about  the 
hardness  of  the  times,  and  both  agree  to  take  service  with 
a  priest,  who  takes  them  in  and  appoints  the  work  to  be 
done  by  each.  Pacala  is  to  dig  a  cellar,  and  his  remunera- 
tion will  be  a  prescurd  (a  small  white  loaf  of  which  the 
consecrated  bread  is  made)  for  every  shovelful  of  mould 
thrown  out ;  Tandala  is  entrusted  with  the  pasturing  of  a 
cow,  which  being,  says  the  priest,  an  exceedingly  meek 
animal,  he  could  lie  down  and  sleep  all  day  in  the  grass, 
and  thus  was  not  entitled  to  any  particular  salary.  But 
next  day  it  came  out  that  the  first  man  received  instead  of 
a  little  loaf  a  good  blow  from  the  priest  for  every  shovelful, 
whilst  the  second  had  to  run  all  day  long  after  the  wildest 
cow  he  had  ever  come  across  in  his  life,  so  that  both  met 
in  the  evening  crushed  down  with  fatigue  and  pain,  each 
thinking,  though,  that  his  fate  alone  had  been  such  a  hard 
one,  while  surely  the  other  had  had  all  the  benefit  of  the 
priest's  promises.   Each  now  invents  the  plan  of  changing 


AMUSEMENTS  AND   PASTIMES  365 

place  with  the  other,  so  that  their  meeting  was  of  the 
highest  diplomacy. 

'*  How  did  you  get  on  ?  "  asked  Pacala. 

"  Oh,  very  well  indeed ;  I  slept  all  day,  the  cow 
grazing  quietly  by  my  side.     And  you?" 

"  Capital,"  answered  Pacala,  "  I  got  so  many  loaves 
from  the  priest  that  I  gave  a  lot  of  them  away  in  alms. 
Now  that  I  think  of  it,  I  am  sorry  I  did  not  keep  some 
for  you.  But  no  matter  ;  if  you  like,  I  can  give  you  my 
place  to-morrow,  and  go  myself  with  the  cow."  They  go 
to  sleep,  each  glad  of  the  bargain  made.  Next  day, 
of  course,  they  felt  all  the  wretchedness  of  having  been 
mutually  taken  in,  but  Tandala  was  lucky  enough,  while 
the  priest  was  away  from  the  cellar,  to  discover  a  barrel 
half  full  of  gold  coins.  As  he  could  not  possibly  get 
out  the  gold  by  himself,  he  imparted  the  news  to  his 
companion,  and  at  night  they  went  together  to  take 
the  money  and  run  away.  But  hole  and  barrel  were 
deep  and  narrow ;  only  one  man  could  get  down.  Tgindala 
went  in  with  the  bag  which  he  had  to  fill  with  money, 
and  then,  with  the  aid  of  a  rope,  bag  and  man  had  to  be 
drawn  up  in  turn  by  Pacala.  Tandala,  however,  filled  the 
bag  only  half  with  money,  on  top  of  which  he  stepped 
himself  into  the  bag,  and  shouted  at  Pacala  to  draw. 
Pacala  drew,  but  instead  of  lowering  once  more  the  rope 
for  his  friend,  he  hastily  shouldered  the  heavy  bag,  and  off 
he  ran,  leaving — he  thought — Tandala  in  the  hole.  Near 
the  skirts  of  a  forest  he  lay  down  to  sleep,  but  while  he 
slept  sound,  Tandala  crept  out  of  the  bag,  took  it  upon 
his  own  shoulders  and  went  away.  When  Pgicala  awoke, 
he  took  in  the  situation  at  once,  but  he  was  not  at  his 
wit's  end.  He  stripped  the  bark  from  a  lime-tree,  twisted 
it  and  made  himself  a  whip,  with  which  he  began  to  clash 
fiercely,  as  if  he  had  been  a  travelling  postilion.  At  this 
sound,  Tandala,  tired  and  hungry  by  this  time,  came 
forward  in  no  time,  hoping  to  find  some  relief  to  both 
hunger  and  weariness  in  the  advancing  vehicle.  One 
may  easily  imagine  the  faces  they  cut  on  meeting.  They 
shook  hands  and  acknowledged  their  equality,  and  that 
nobody  could  ever  get  the  better  of  them,  except  one 


366         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

of  another ;  so  they  decided  to  part,  and  go  about  taking 
in  the  simple,  playing  practical  jokes  on  them,  but  not 
always  in  mere  joke ;  the  simple  have,  however,  some- 
times the  pleasure  of  witnessing  now  and  then  how  a 
"P^cala"  meets  also  his  **  Tdndala." 

The  way  of  narrating  tales  is  not  in  the  least  easy  to 
adopt  or  to  reproduce.  In  a  simple  but  rich  language, 
full  of  metaphorical  expressions,  spread  all  over  with 
proverbs,  there  is  besides  very  much  of  the  individual 
talent  of  the  narrator.  As  to  its  form,  a  tale  begins 
always  by  some  stereotyped  words,  such  as  :  "  There  was 
once,  when  there  was,  for  if  it  had  not  been,  it  wouldn't 
be  told  ;"  or  again  :  "  There  was  once  upon  a  time,  when 
the  small  fishes  ate  the  big  ones,  and  people  call  them 
thieves ; "  or,  "  There  was  once,  when  there  was,  when 
the  flea  was  shod  with  ninety-nine  pounds  of  iron  at  each 
foot,  and  got  up  in  the  hightness  of  the  skies  and  felt 
still  light !  " 

The  narrative,  in  prose,  is  not  seldom  interlarded  with 
ever-recurring  verses,  like — 

"Tale,  tale 
There  is  still  a  long  way  ahead ;  "  * 

or  with  words  like  in§ird-te  mdrgdrite  (** thread  pearls"), 
the  tale  being  supposed  to  be  told  in  a  §dzdtoare,  where 
the  work  done  was  nothing  less  than  threading  of 
pearls !  In  some  tales,  again,  versified  parts  are  inter- 
spersed. 

The  end  of  a  tale,  like  its  beginning,  is  also  stereotyped : 
"And  I  mounted  on  a  saddle,  and  told  it  to  you  thus; " 
or,  "  And  I  got  astride  on  a  rod  and  told  you  a  lie," 
and  many  other  endings  very  often  improvised  on  the 
spot  by  the  spirited  narrator,  with  a  hint  towards 
this  or  that  member  of  the  gathering  or  of  their 
acquaintances. 

Riddles  {cimilituri)  are  a  very  important  item  in  the 
gatherings.     They  all  begin  by  the  prefixed  words :  Cinelj 

■\i  a  Poveste,  poveste 

Inainfce  mult  mai  este." 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  367 

cinel,  or  Cimel,  Cimel,  which  seem  to  mean  as  much  as 
"  Guess  !  "     To  give  a  sample — 

"  (Guess  1)  In  the  wood  I  was  born 
In  the  wood  brought  up, 
To  the  town  when  taken 
Judge  I  have  been  appointed."  "^^ 

{The  stick.) 

or — 

" .   .   .   I  have  a  mottled  little  pot 
The  cocks  crow  in  it."f 

{The  church.) 

*'  What  water  is  there  in  the  world  without  sand  ?  "  J 

{The  tear.) 

or,  again,  questions  are  set,  to  which  an  adequate,  though 
not  exact  answer  is  expected,  as,  for  instance — 

"Which  is  the  longest  day?  " 
"That  in  which  you  have  nothing  to  eat." 

A  special  kind  of  night  gathering,  in  some  places  about 
the  Carpathians,  is  the  Vergelul  (the  reveillon),  on  the 
night  before  New  Year.  People  gather  in  some  house, 
where  they  have  been  invited  in  good  time,  as  soon  as 
the  plugusor  business  has  been  done  with,  or  even  whilst 
the  young  men  are  still  at  it.  The  hostess  has  prepared 
a  good  deal  of  refreshment  and  a  musical  band,  one  fiddle, 
at  least,  will  not  be  wanting.  On  the  stroke  of  midnight 
— struck  by  the  cock  in  the  hen-house — a  bucket,  of  quite 

'•'  "  Cinel,  cinel :   in  padure  m'am  nascut 
In  padure  am  crescut 
^i  'n  oras  cum  m'au  adus 
Judecator  am  fost  pus." 

{Batul.) 
f  "  Cinel,  cinel :  Am  o  ulcea  pestricea 
Cauta  cuco^ii  in  ea." 

{Biserica.) 

I  .   .   .   "  Ce  apa  este  in  lume  fara  nasip  ?  " 

{Lacrima.) 


368        FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

new  fir-wood,  is  brought  in  full  of  water  and  put  on  the 
table.  Every  person  in  the  room  gives  '*  a  sign,"  some 
small  object  belonging  to  him  or  her,  a  ring,  a  string 
of  beads,  a  pipe,  a  knife,  a  hairpin,  or  anything,  which 
articles  are  all  dropped  in  the  bucket.  A  man  then, 
vergelatoruly  comes  with  two  green  twigs  in  his  hands, 
and  beating  with  them  time  on  the  bucket's  edge,  recites 
a  New  Year's  greeting,  whilst  at  his  side  stands  a  young 
boy  in  clean  garments  and  new  sandals,  personating  the 
New  Year.  When  the  recitation  is  ended,  he  thrusts  his 
hand  into  the  bucket,  and  picks  up  at  random  the  objects 
there  deposited  in  turn,  the  vergelator  predicting  to 
the  possessor  of  each  something  more  or  less  witty  and 
amusing.  Sometimes  the  vergelator  is  blindfolded,  so 
that  his  prophecies  come  out  still  more  funny  and 
ludicrous.  After  a  final  cheer  pronounced  by  the  ver- 
gelatory  the  water  is  thrown  out  and  the  bucket  brought 
back  filled  with  wine,  and  the  cinste  begins.  A  dance 
closes  the  proceedings,  as  it  often  also  does  with  the 
common  §dzdtoareas. 


"Greatly  do  I  really  wonder 
At  the  one  who  cannot  sing 
How  he  goes  through  his  own  life 
For  I,  indeed,  ever  sing, 
And  go  through  badly  enough."  * 

The  last  resort,  the  cheapest  pastime  of  the  Roumanian 
peasant,  is  his  singing.  At  work  or  at  rest,  merry  or 
weary,  he  will  ever  strike  up  a  tune,  cheerful  or  sad, 
according  to  his  state  of  mind.  Not  that  a  traveller 
should  expect  to  come  across  voices  similar  in  beauty 
or  strength  to  the  Italian  voices ;  not  that  he  should  hear 
among  the  Roumanian  peasants  choirs  well  regulated 

*  "Mult  ma  mier  eu  de  aoela 
Care  nu  §tie  canta 
Cum  i^i  petrece  lumea 
Ca  eu  cant,  zau,  tot  mereu, 
§i-o  petrec  destul  de  greu." 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  360 

in  tune  and  time,  as  he  would  among  Germans;  the 
Koumanian  peasant  has  hardly  ever  a  good  quality  of 
voice,  never  any  training,  yet  his  soul  is  musical,  and  he 
ever  feels  an  impulse  to  sing. 

The  chief  part  of  the  Eoumanian  popular  song  is  made 
up  of  the  words,  the  poetry ;  the  tune  comes  only  next, 
and  is  in  a  much  less  advanced  stage  than  the  poetry. 
Most  of  the  popular  poetry  is  not  told,  it  is  sung,  or  rather 
it  is  said,  the  word  ''  to  say,"  a  zice,  being  said  by  the 
Koumanian  peasant  to  mean  also  *'  to  sing,"  as  well  as 
"to  play"  :  to  say  a  song,  to  say  from  the  whistle.  As 
samples  of  the  popular  poetry  as  well  as  of  the  Koumanian 
music  have  been  given  in  the  preceding  chapters,  the 
reader  is  fully  acquainted  with  them.  Epic,  lyric,  satiric — 
poetry  as  well  as  prose — all  the  literary  kinds  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Koumanian  folk-lore.  Most  of  the  songs 
begin  Yfiih.  frunzd-verde  ("  green-leaf"),  the  peasant  poet 
taking  ever  as  witness  to  his  feeling,  a  plant,  a  iSlower, 
or  a  tree ;  the  content  of  the  poetry  itself  may  have 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  opening  invocation,  the 
singer,  however,  has  taken  as  companion  and  listener 
some  representative  of  Nature,  the  one,  which,  like  him- 
self, is  doomed  to  the  most  fickle,  most  uncertain  fate  : 
the  leaf,  prey  of  all  winds.  Who  has  composed  the 
popular  poetry,  none  can  tell.  Or  rather,  yes,  one  can 
tell  that  nobody  in  particular  has  done  it,  but  that  it  is 
the  perfectly  anonymous  creation  of  the  people  at  large. 
No  name  of  a  minstrel  has  ever  been  heard  of,  old  or 
recent;  no  singer  ever  can  tell  what  is  the  origin  of 
the  song  he  is  saying.  He  invariably  has  heard  it  from 
somebody  else.  To  some  extent,  however,  the  making 
of  popular  poetry  can  be  traced :  one  boy  or  girl  learns 
a  song,  then,  be  it  by  forgetfulness,  or  under  pressure 
of  some  individual  feeling,  he  adds  something  of  his  own ; 
the  song  grows,  time  often  will  make  several  pieces  of  it, 
and  thus  the  songs  increase  in  number  and  bulk.  There 
are  splendid  and  there  are  inferior  pieces  in  the  popular 
poetry ;  there  is  also  much  low  trash ;  all  this,  however, 
only  the  work  of  the  gipsy  Idutar,  or  else,  and  perhaps 
still  more,  of  the  town  dweller ;  as  for  the  real  peasant 

25 


370         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO   PINDUS 

poetry,  it  is  ever  as  clean,  as  fresh,  as  pure  as  the  Nature 
under  whose  direct  influence  they  hve,  as  the  very  fresh 
air  they  are  breathing. 

There  is  a  large  amount  of  popular  poetry  collected 
already ;  there  is,  perhaps,  more  to  be  collected  yet ;  at 
any  rate,  the  composing  pov^er  of  the  people  does  not 
seem  in  the  least  exhausted  yet,  and  education,  let  us 
hope,  in  its  slow  advance,  will  find  its  way  to  do  its  work 
without  extinguishing  under  its  flat  formalism  the  genius 
of  the  Roumanian  nation. 

Let  us  hope  in  good  time  a  merrier  note  may  be 
struck  by  the  Roumanian  singer  at  large,  but  for  the 
time  being,  the  most  popular,  the  most  far  and  wide- 
spread song,  the  song  par  excellence  of  the  Roumanian 
nation  is  a  doleful  one ;  it  is  the  Doina  (supposed  to 
originate  from  the  Latin  doleo,  dolina,  or  else  from  the 
Dacian  Daina)  song,  in  which  the  Roumanian  popular 
singer  has  put  his  soul,  to  bewail  his  own  multifarious 
woes ;  tune  as  well  as  poetry  strongly  wedded  together, 
the  poetry  often  varying,  the  tune  always  the  same ;  the 
song  with  which  the  Roumanian  peasant  drives  away  his 
sorrows ;  the  song  which  has  the  power  of  making  him 
fancy  he  has  paid  off  both  taxation  and  labour : — 

"With  the  doina  I  pay  off 
The  taxation  and  the  labour  I  "  * 

the  song  which  is  the  strongest  expression  of  infinite 
pain : — 

"He  who  invented  the  doina 
Burnt  out  must  have  been  his  heart, 
As  it  is  just  now  with  me  1 "  f 


*  "  Eu  cu  doina  ma  platesc 
De  bir  §i  de  boieresc  1 " 

f  "  Cine  a  st&rnit  doina 
Arsa  i-a  fost  inima 
Ca  si  mie  acuma !  " 


AMUSEMENTS  AND  PASTIMES  371 

the  song,  which,  from  the  top  of  the  Carpathians,  comes 
down  rilling  in  infinite  waves  of  wailing  : — 


Boina,  Doina,  sweet  songl 

When  I  hear  thee,  to  stay  I  long — 

Doina,  Doina,  fiery  tune. 

When  thou  soundest  I  stand  still. 

When  the  wind  of  spring  is  blowing 

I  sing  the  doina  out  of  doors, 

That  I  may  lisp  with  the  flowers 

And  with  the  sweet  nightingales. 

Comes  the  winter  with  its  storms, 

I  sing  the  doina  indoors, 

To  sweeten  with  it  my  days. 

My  days  and  my  dreary  nights. 

The  leaf  shoots  out  in  the  wood, 

Doina  of  bravery  I  sing — 

The  leaf  falls  down  in  the  vale, 

I  sing  the  doina  of  wail. 

Doina  I  say,  doina  I  sigh. 

With  the  doina  I  keep  myself. 

Doina  I  sing,  doina  I  whisper. 

With  the  doina  alone  I  Hve !  "  * 


a:    (( 


Doina,  doina,  c^ntec  dulce ! 
Cind  te-aud  nu  m'a§  mai  duce. 
Doina,  doina,  viers  cu  foe 
Cand  rasuni  eu  stau  in  loo. 
Bate  vant  de  primavara 
Eu  c&nt  doina  pe  afara, 
De  ma'  ngan  cu  florile 
^i  privighitorile. 
Vine  iearna  viscoloasa 
Eu  cant  doina  'nchis  in  casa, 
De-mi  mai  mangai  zilele 
Zilele  §i  nop^iile. 
Frunza  'n  codru  cat  invie 
Doina  cant  de  voinicie. 
Cad«  frunza  jos  in  vale, 
Eu  cant  doina  cea  de  jale ; 
Doina  zic,  doina  suspin. 
Tot  cu  doina  ma  mai  ^in 
Doina  cant,  doina  ^optese 
Tot  cu  doina  Viennese  I  " 


372         FROM  CARPATHIAN  TO  PINDUS 

— the   song  which  the   lonely   shepherd   on   the   height 
'*doin€§te"  ("doins")  on  his  whistle  thus: 


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Index 


A 

Acarnany,  12,  41 

Adrian,  7,  8 

Adriatic,  the,  5 

Adrianople,  treaty  of,  74 

Agathyrses,  the,  5 

"  Agricultural  conventions,"  77 

Albania,  41 

Albanians,  112,  121,  300,  310 

Alexander,  Joan  Cuza,  36 

Alexander,  Sutzo,  68 

Alexander  the  Good,  22,  159,  160 

Alps,  the,  1,  2 

America,  230 

Archonda  Palicar,  an,  311 

Ardeleanul,  the,  343 

Armindin^  183 

Aral  lake,  the,  5 

Argesh,  9  ;  Curtea  de,  161,  172 

Armani,  the,  40-42,  72,  115,  165, 

249,  300 
Armenians,  the,  39,  204,  300,  312 
Arndutzi,  the,  65,  68,  94,  121 
Aryan  race,  the,  5 
Asia,  139,  301 
Asia  Minor,  42 
Asparuch,  14 
Assan,  17 
Athens,  311 

Athos,  Mount,  160,  161,  164 
Attila,  11 
August  II.  of  Poland,  121 


Aurelian,  the  Emperor,  8-10,  12, 

40,  194 
Austria,  31,  i35,  38,  74,  133,  134, 

137,  138,  140,  299,  307,  356 
Austro-Hungary,  118, 133, 165,  298 
Avars,  the,  12-14 

B 

Badica  Troian,  358 

Balk,  47 

Balkan,  the,  1, 2,  6, 10-14, 167, 160, 

207,298 
Barlaneshti,  94 
Banat,  the,  6,  37,  109,  354 
Basile  II.,  15,  157 
Basile  Lupu,  160,  162 
Bassarab  family,  the,  18,  22,  27,  28 
Bassarabia,  31,  35,  36,  38,  75,  110, 

140,  154,  228,  298,  300,  307,  313, 

323,  324-326 
Batu-Chan,  18 
Batuta,  341,  342 
Bender,  24 
Beotia,  41 
Berlad,  47 
Bersava,  9 
Bethlehem,  355 
Bibescu,  Prince  N.,  129 
Bir,  the,  82 
Bistritza,  the  river,  242 
Black  Sea,  the,  3,  13,  227,  300 
Blaj,  137 

373 


374 


INDEX 


Blajini,  the,  180 

Bogdan,  19,  23,  24,  47,  160 

Bohemians,  298 

Boiars,  the,  60-63, 65, 68-71, 73-75, 

81-91, 98-104, 121,  143, 177, 217, 

270 
Boierii,  88 
Bolosina,  63 
Bordea,  forest  of,  5 
Bosnia,  235 
Bosphoms,  the,  5 
Boureni,  20 
Braila,  234 

Brezaia,  or  Capra,  357 
Brumar^  361 
Brumdrel,  360 
Bucarest,  V,  69,  76,  127 
Bucegi  Group,  215 
Bucium  or  Bucin,  the,  345 
Buda,  the  Pashalik  of,  134 
Buda-Pesth,  134 
Buga,  the,  31 
Bugeac,  the  228 
Buhcdj  a,  358 
Bujor,  71,  72,  91 
BujulfiUo  Stojey  45 
Bukovina,  4,  18,  23,  31,  37,  38,  71, 

109,  140,  154,  160,  161,  186,  298, 

300,  313 
Bulgaria,   10,  15,  20,  39,  81,  158, 

170;  people  of,   13-18,  25,  39, 

112,  155,  157,  233,  299,  310 
BuUbasha,  a,  317 
Bythinia,  42 

Byzantines,  14, 17, 18,  81,  157 
Byzantium,  13,  15,  157 


Caloian,  a,  183,  231 

Calusheri,  the,  343,  353,  354 

Garacalla,  8 

Carol  I.,  v.,  VI. 

Carpathians,  7-10,  12,  13,  15-18, 
36,  37, 39, 42, 44-46,  72,  109, 115, 
118,  149,  155,  156,  160,  205-207, 
214,  216,  217,  224,  236,  270,  300, 
812,  851,  866;  fauna  and  flora 


of  the,  2 ;  mines  in,  3  ;  primitive 

remains  in,  4,  5 
Caspian,  the,  5 
Caucasus,  the,  9,  39 
CdzHceasca,  the,  343 
Cetatea-Alba,  24 
Charles  the  Great,  12,  129 
Charles  I.  of  HohenzoUem,  36, 122 
Chrestianilor,  Mu/ntele,  9 
CimiUturi,  366,  367 
Cimpol,  the,  346 
Ciocoi,  71,  91,  95,  97, 126 
Ciocaneshti,  94 
Claca^i,  the,  74,  75,  107 
Cluj,  137 
Cohza,  the,  343 
Cocan,  Mount,  9 
Codreanu,  64,  65,  67 
Constantin  Brancoveanu,  92 
Constantine  Mavrocordat,  69,  70 
Constantine  the  Great,  156 
Constantinople,  14,  23,  28,  30,  60, 

61,  62,  89,  92,  157-159,  164,  165, 

275,  300 
Copou,  65 
Congaz,  326,  327 
Corn,  the,  345 
Costica,  326 
Crimea,  25,  54,  92,  300 
Crishiana,  37 

Croatians,  the,  133,  136,  137,  298 
Cumans,  the,  15,  16,  18 
Cutzovlachi,  40 
Cuza,  Prince,  74,  75,  76,  164 


Dacia,  6-9, 15, 45,  80, 166, 157, 164, 
195,  370;  AureUan's,  10, 12,  13 

Dacians,  the,  5-7,  10,  11,  109 

Dairdf  the,  359 

Danube,  the,  1,  3,  5-8,  10,  11,  13- 
15,  17,  19,  20,  26,  ;30,  31,  36,  37, 
39,  45,  55,  76,  81,  112,  121,  155- 
158,  160,  161,  165,  234,  236,  298, 
300 

Danzig,  216 

De  brdu,  the,  341 


INDEX 


375 


Decebalus,  8 

Delta,  the,  228 

Demetrius  Cantimir,  Prince,  81,216 

Dettmata,  9 

Dima,  63 

Divan,  the,  86 

Divanuri- ad-hoc,  101 

Dniester,  the,  5,  15,  17,  19,  24,  31, 

38,  39,  45,  54,  300 
Dobrogia,  the,  3,  13,  36,  239,  304 
Doina,  the,  370-372 
Dokia,  8,  218 
Dosza,  26 

Dorobcmtzi,  the,  127 
Dragosh,  19,  47 
Drdmba,  the,  346 


E 


Epirus,  41 
Etholy,  12,  41 


Finer  CM  dop,  the,  344 
Forty  Saints'  day,  177,  178 
Franks,  the,  14 
French  code  of  laws,  146 

G 

Gaina  mountain,  the,  9 

Galatzi,  165,  234 

GaUcia,  18,  38,  140,  162 

Gallienus,  8 

Gepides,  the,  12 

Germans,  the,  15,  16,  38,  39,  140, 

148,  300,  307,  308,  356 
Germany,  the  Emperor  of,  134 
Getes,  the,  5 
Gipsies,  the,    299,    316-322,  359, 

360,369 
Goleshti,  94 
Goths,  the,  &-11 
Greece,  5,  6 
Greek,  7,  14,  15,  28-31,  33-35,  39- 

41,  60,  62,  67,  71,  89-91,  98,  131, 

150,  155,  158,  159,  161,  162,  164, 

165,  300,  311,  312 
Gregory  Ghika,  70 


Hmdouk,  a,  63-65,  71,  72,  91,  96, 

121 
Habsbourg,  26 
Hassan,  356 
Heleni,  the,  355 
Hellespont,  the,  5 
Herod,  355,  356 
Hora,  ithe,  332-340 ;  Sinata,  332- 

336 
Horia,  70 
Hotin,  24 
Hungarians,  the,   15,   16,   19,  20, 

22-27,  38,  45,  46,    58,  86,  134, 

136-139,  146,  158,  299,  308-310 
Hungary,  3,  16,  18,  23,  25,  35,  37, 

105,  133-138,  145,  146,  157,  165, 

299 


lanitcheri,  the,  24 

lelele,  the,  185,  186 

Ileana  Cantacuzino,  63 

Ileana  Simziana,  226,  227,  363 

lUyrians,  the,  5 

Innocent  III.,  17 

loan  Corvin  de  Huniade,  Eegent 

of  Himgary,  23,  25 
Ion  Creanga,  99 
lonitza  (Little  John),  17,  20,  25, 

183 
Ion  Roata,  100,  101 
lordacki,  92-94 
Iron  Gates,  the,  2,  18 
Irozi,  the,  355,  356 
Isaack  Angelus,  17 
Islam,  21,  310 
Istria,  11,  37,  38,  154,  299 
Italy,  6,  7, 133 


Janoeh,  the  Hungarian,  51,  52,  53, 

309 
Jassy,  64-66,  93,  94,  99 
Jerusalem,  164 
Jews,   the,  38,   39,  102,  103,  114, 

204,  299,  312,  313,  316,  348,  357 


376 


INDEX 


Jianu,  91 

Joseph  II.,  134,  154 
Justinian,  156 

Justinianea  Prima,  Archbishopric 
of,  156 


E 


Kerson,  39 
Kisselefif,  98 
Kossuth,  136 


Land  Act,  74,  75 
Lautari,  the,  317,  334,  369 
Leonti,  65 
"Liberty  field,"  137 
Lingurari,  the,  317 
Lissandre,  93 

Lithuanians,  the,  22,  58,  203 
Lithuon,  47 


M 

Macedonia,  6,  27,  41, 154,  299 

Macedonians,  the,  5,  165 

Maggiore,  Monte,  38 

Magyars,  the,  21,  25,  38,  138,  139 

Mahomet,  304 

Mane,  the  ho^oman,  83,  84 

Maramuresh,  19,  37 

Marmorosh,  18,  19 

Marmura  mountains,  9 

Maria  Theresia,  134 

Matei  Bassarab,  29,  30,  162 

Mathias  Corvin,  25 

Maurice  of  Saxony,  121 

Meglen,  166 

Michael  the  Brave,  26,  27,  89,  121, 

122 
Mihu  Copilul,  51,  52,  53 
Milcov,  119 
Mileshti,  94 
Mirtchea  the  Great,  20,   24,    26, 

119,  169 


Missolonghi,  41 

Moesia,  10,  13,  156 

Mohaczi,  133 

Moldavia,  18-29,  31,  32,  35,  44,  46, 
48,  76,  81,  82,  89,  92,  99,  109- 
112,  118-120,  158-160,  162,  186, 
203,  206,  216,  226,  233,  234,  299, 
305,  325,  354,  355 

Moldavian  Dorna,  the,  242 

Monastir,  154 

Mongolians,  14,  15,  17,  300 

Moravia,  37,  38,  154,  299 

MosTmeni,  the,  48,  76 

"  Mo^  lonica,"  356,  357 

Motru,  9 

Motz,  111 

Muntenia,  19 

Muresh,  9 

Mushatini,  22,  28 

N 

Naiu,  the  (or  moscal),  345 
Neagoe  Bassarab,  161,  162 
Neamtz,  160 


Ochrida,  157,  158 

Olt,  the,  2,  6,  9,  18,  19 

Oltenia,  6,  17-19,  109,  353 

Olympus,  41 

Opalia,  the  Eoman,  358 

Ops,  the  goddess,  358 

"Organic  Regulations,"  98 

Osman  Pasha,  128,  129 

Ossa,  41 

Ostrogoths,  12 

Oural  mountains,  13,  18 


Pacala,  864,  365,  366 
Paparude,  the,  182,  183,  231 
Pdpusele,  the,  356 
Paris,'  73,  101 ;  treaty  of,   35,   75, 
216 


INDEX 


377 


Patmaml  Codrilor,  the,  50,  283 

"  Peasant  wedding,"  the,  357 

Petchenegues,  the,  15,  16 

Petru,  17 

Phanar,  30 

Phanariotes,  the,  30,  67-69,  92,  98, 

121 
Philipi,  the,  188 
Phoenicians,  the,  5 
Pindus,  the,  1-3,  7,  10,  12,  13,  35, 

36,  40,  41,  72,  73,  115,  118,  154, 

186,  205,  207,  214,  235,  249,  250, 

270,  300 
Plevna,  128,  129 
Plugusorul,  the,  357,  358,  367 
Pobrata,  160 
Poland,  18,  23,  31,  121,  157,  162, 

203,  313 
Poles,  the,  20,  21,  23,  24,  31,  120 
Porte,  the,  28,  30,  70 
Preslav,  157 
"  Provisional    Government,"    the, 

73 
Pruth,  the,  3,  9,  15,  17,  31,  32,  38, 

324 
Purice,  the  Aprod,  87 
Putna,  23,  31,  160 


K 


Bachiu,  347 

Radu,  24 

Radu  Sharban  Bassarab,  27 

Ragusa,  235 

Bazdshi,  the,  48,  59,  61,  75,  78,  87, 

95,  107,  147,  238 
Eepotini,  the,  182 
Rhine,  11 

Rhodope,  10,  12,  13 
Romans,  the,  3,  5-12,  47,  109,  112, 

181,  182,  198,  306,  354,  357 
Bomdn  Grue  Grozoran,  54,  55 
Rome,   6,   41,    80,    157,  158,   219, 

357 
Romanul,  the,  354 
Roumania,  4,  73,  76,  77 ;  Free,  75, 


118,  129,  146,  150,  154,  206,  216, 
217,  228,  234,  299,  300,  312,351 ; 
description  of,  1-3  ;  history  of, 
3-43  ;  landed  property  in,  44-80 

Roumanian  agriculture,  228-234 ; 
attitude  to  foreigners,  298-327 ; 
boiars  and  peasants,  80-109; 
burials,  288-297;  children,  247- 
253;  courtships,  254-266;  diver- 
sions, 328-353;  dress,  112-117; 
education,  150-155 ;  evening 
gatherings,  360-368 ;  festivals, 
177-199  ;  homes,  205-214  ; 
justice,  140-149 ;  marriages,  267- 
288;  pastoral  life,  214-228; 
peasant  women,  237-246 ; 
physical  appearance,  109-110 ; 
political  rights,  131-140 ;  religion, 
156-204 ;  sanitary  laws,  149- 
150 ;  social  distinctions,  107- 
109;  soldiers,  119-129;  spring, 
217-222 ;  taxation,  129-132 ; 
theatrical  performances,  353- 
360;  trades,  234-237;  working 
day,  222-225 

Rudolph  II.,  26 

Ruginoasa,  165 

Busasca,  the,  343 

Bussalii,  the,  184,  185,  353,  354 

Russia,  18,  31,  54,  73-75,  138,  140, 
156,  228,  313 

Russians,  24,  31-33,  35,  36,  39,  75, 
92,  95,  110,  119,  121,  154,  164, 
298,  300,  306,  307,  316,  324,  356 

Rustchiouk,  129 

Ruthenians,  38,  39,  140,  298,  300 


S 

Sadowa,  138 

Sarmates,  the,  5 

Sas  the  Moldavian,  47 

Sashi,  the  (or  Saxons),  16,  38,  183, 

134,  136,  137,  300 
Saxony,  121 

l^&zdtoarea,  the,  360-363,  366,  368 
Scythia,  13 


378 


INDEX 


Scythians,  5,  6,  9 

Secklers,  the,  16,  25,  26,  38,  299 

Seneslau,  47 

Servia,  10,  20,  39 ;  people  of,  133, 

136,  137,  298,  299,  310 
Shalga,  55,  56 
Shanta,  64,  65 

Shoiman  Burtchel,  58,  59,  60 
Sibiu,  138 
Silistria,  15 

Simeon,  the  Czar,  15,  167 
Siret,  Eiver,  9 
Sirbe,  the,  334 
"  Slaves  Way,"  305 
Slavic  sea,  298 
Slavonians,  298 
Slavs,  the,   11-16,  18,   29,   37-41, 

44,  45,  47,  81,  109,  112,  133,  136, 

149,  150,  154,  157,  160-163,  170, 

180,  298,  299,  334 
Soliman  II.,  134 
Solomonari,  187,  188,  231 
Soroca,  24 
Stancutza,  846 
Steiasa,  the,  215 
Stephen  the  Great,  21-24,  31,  57- 

60,  76,  87,  119,  120, 122,  160 
Stoian-papa,  50,  283,  284 
Suceava,  60 
Sutcheava,  21 

Szecklers,  133,  134,  137,  189 
Szekeny,  135 


Tdndala,  364-366 
Tarantella,  the  Italian,  343 
Targovistea,  68 

Tartars,  17-19,  22,  25,  28,  29,  64, 
55,  58,  59,  92,  300,  301,  304,  305 
TeUnca,  the,  344 
Temishiana,  37 
Thessalonica,  156 
Thessaly,  12,  41 
Thracians,  the,  5,  183 
Tiflis,  326 
Timok,  39 


Tismana,  160 
Tissa,  11,  14-16,  37,  39 
"  Toma  Alimosh,"  82,  84 
Trajan,  6,  7,  9,  10,  156,  175,  305 
Transylvania,  3,  4,  6,  14,  16,  18, 
19,  25-27,  31,  35,  37,  38,  45,  46, 
70,    74,   81,    109,   111,   133-138, 
145,  149,  154,  158,  162,  165,  168, 
186,  216,  233,  234,  292,  300,  313, 
354,  355 
Tri^ca,  the,  344 
TrulTifilio  Choru,  46 
Tudor  Vladimirescu,  33,  34 
Turkey,  24,  72,  73,  119,  127,  134, 

140,  154 
Turks,  the,  18,  20,  21,  23-27,  30 
31,  33,  34,  41,  46,  60-62,  88,  89, 
121,  122,  128,  129,  131,  134,  160, 
161,  165,  195,  299,  300-311,  316, 
319,  356 
Tzigani,  the,  (gipsies),  299,  316- 
322,  359,  360,  369 


United  States,  228 

Ursari,  the,  317 

"  Usage  of  the  soil,"  the,  146 


Valachia,  6,  12,  14,  19-21,  24-26, 
28,  29,  35,  44,  46,  48,  81,  89, 116, 
118-120,  154,  158-161,  182,  186, 
215,  216,  233,  235,  353,  355 

Valachians,  the,  13,  19,  22,  23,  35, 
40, 92, 157, 165, 166, 236,  300, 310 

Valacho-Bulgarian  Empire,  17,  20 

Vaslui,  60 

Vasile  Lupu,  29 

Vergelul,  367,  368 

Vicleim,  the,  355,  356 

Vidin,  129 

Vidra,  60,  283 

Vienna,  146 

Viennese  Parliament,  140 

Virful  cu  dor,  215 


INDEX 


379 


Vlad  the  Empaler,  20-24 

Vlahi,  the,  37 

VlasKka,  37 

Voditza,  160 

Volga,  11 

Voyevodes,  the,  19,  20,  49,  57-62, 

68-71,  81,  86,  88,  92,  93,  99,  118, 

119,  154,  159,  160 


Vornic  X.,  69 
Voronetz,  code  of,  161 

W 
Weigand,  Dr.,  112 

Z 

Zinzari,  40 


Zbc  Oresbatn  pte60, 

UNWTN  BBOTHERS,  lilMITED, 
WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


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